Genesis Rebirth
by psytronix
Summary: The events of the year are reversed, and the Third Child gets a second chance to save his friends. This reborn world holds many differences, however... Shinji/Harem, Genderbends, Crack-ish (But not really), Obscenity. Some out-of-character elements. Now on indefinite hiatus.
1. The Price

A/N: Alternate-ish ending to EoE. Bear with me. And apparently we all hate Hideaki Anno?

* * *

Shinji Ikari stared into the blood-orange abyss for an eternity. A monolithic figure in the sky bore her gaze down upon him, unblinking, and unwavering. A dissonant chorus of artificial Angels circled him and the figure, like scraggy red vultures.

The godlike Rei, having merged with Lilith and Adam, repeated the words to him.

"What do you choose, Shinji?" The voice, it should've boomed out to his ears, but instead it fell like a loving whisper in the teen's ear. Said Eva Pilot shivered at the contorted words of what was once an old friend.

"Not Instrumentality… There has to be a better way…" Shinji mused, ignoring the titan behind him. He stirred and fumbled around in the orange sea, turning to face the visage of Rei.

' _If I could just… Get the chance to make things right… I could stop all those needless deaths and halt all the pain… If I could get one more shot to make Rei feel loved, or to comfort Asuka… To save Kaworu…'_ Shinji's thoughts were a mess, and the images of his deceased friends filled his mind, almost mockingly.

"Is… Damn, _was_ peace possible between us?" He asked the being, who appeared unfazed at his question.

"Peace is impossible between Lilin and Angels. One was bound to destroy the other. That is why the two are separately launched during the spread." The godly merge spoke. Shinji's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Then Earth was an anomaly, yes?" He asked the entity, who turned her head at the comparatively microscopic human.

"In regards to the Seeds of Knowledge and Life landing here, yes. Now, however, Earth will have another chance to grow, if you decide, Shinji." The whisper told him. Shinji's shoulders slumped as he thought harder and harder.

"But… Both Seeds landing on Earth… It was bound to happen, wasn't it?" He asked the face of Rei. The being actually took time to think upon the cosmic equation and inevitability that was both Seeds landing on a planet at once.

The face gave Shinji a look of outright confusion.

"Yes… What is your point, Shinji?" It asked of him. Shinji took a deep breath, and having had enough of wallowing in his self-deprecation, he stared unflinchingly at the monolithic Rei.

' _There… There is a better way… To find what drives the Angels – to find if they contain pilots of their own, to find a way to make them stop.'_

"I reject Instrumentality. I opt for a do-over." He said, simply, making his way to shore. The merged being again blankly stared at Shinji Ikari for some time, before it broke the heavy silence.

"A do-over?" It was not that well-versed in the idioms of Lilin conversation. Shinji rubbed the back of his head as he stared down at his feet.

' _To find peace between our races… After all, we're not that different, genetics-wise…'_

"Uh… I mean… I'd like… If you gave me the chance, I could… I could make peace with the Angels!" Shinji declared. "Rei" continued to stare, to make the teen squirm under her gaze.

"You say that you could stop the Angels from reaching Lilith and Adam - that you could make them go against their nature?" It asked him. Shinji looked down again, and a new purpose filled and energised him.

"There has to be a way. I will not stand here and wait for the world to come to me. I will not let all those senseless deaths happen, and-"

"What of Adam's vessel, Kaworu? He sought you out, befriended you, and yet still you were unable to convince him to abandon his nature." The visage interrupted back, monotonously.

' _Kaworu…'_

"I… I was weak! I will do better this ti-" Shinji pleaded, his anger and angst rising by the second.

"And what of Rei Ayanami? Part Lilith, she was ever-so-closer to your kind than Kaworu was, yet even she succumbed to her natu-"

' _Rei… She'd been plagued with loneliness all her life…'_

' _No.'_

' _NO!'_ Shinji's face turned dark, and he braced his lungs for a verbal lashing.

"I WILL MAKE THINGS RIGHT! I WILL FIND A WAY TO MAKE PEACE WITH THE ANGELS!" He yelled, with all his might, to the gargantuan image of Rei. She continued to stare at him with an unwavering neutral expression.

Shinji took another breath and further braced himself.

"I WILL SAVE EVERYONE! AND I WILL NOT LET MY FRIENDS BE HURT!" He belted out of his chest, forcing his throat to vocalise until he was ragged. He stood firm against the rolling LCL tides, and huffed as "Rei" continued to stare at him.

She eventually twitched her head, indicating something had reached contact with her.

For a while, Rei continued to stare at Shinji, until a spark of life welted in her eyes.

"It appears that Those who came before us have allowed this. They will bend time and space so that you may attempt peace with Adam's kind, Shinji Ikari." The figure stated, extending it's AT Field-wings out so that it could garner the cosmic energies needed to reverse time.

As the world around Shinji began to reform, a sight it was to behold, Rei's visage met his in a grim stare.

"This world is not a perfect recreation, Shinji Ikari." She mentioned, before Shinji was swallowed whole by the raging LCL tides. His consciousness remained, despite his deformation in the rolling orange sea.

Amidst his rebirth, the Eva Pilot could only hear static, could only see white, but nonetheless was fed raw data through the life-making LCL waters.

" **Two minus** … Two plus… _Daughters of Adam_ … Contained… **Beyond** … _First_ … **Second** … _**Devour**_ …" And with that, Shinji screamed as he was born again. The voices ceased, and he was returned to an infantile state of mind.

It wasn't until his 12th birthday that he regained the memories of his past life, and there was nothing he could do to halt the merging of his mother to Eva Unit 01's core. There was nothing he could do to stop Gendo from sending him away, and he'd emotionally let go of the man.

The more he thought on it, Shinji realised that his dwelling on his father, wanting to be loved and wanting to gain acceptance was _not_ the way to go, this time around. He would not dwell on his own pain and sadness – he _had_ to be the change he wanted to see in the world around him.

Shinji _had_ to help Rei with the pain she'd suffered silently.

He _had_ to break past Asuka's aggressive shell, to help her cope with the pain of losing a mother.

Even if it meant ignoring his own, he would help the others with his pain. To gain their love and acceptance, he would sacrifice that much and more.

So that was it – no more "father", and no more meandering in his self-worthlessness.

At least not until he was sure the world would be saved.

Shinji Ikari took it upon himself to hone his body for the responsibilities ahead, assuming this future would play out mostly the same, and thus devised a workout routine, along with a diet, to prepare for what the new future held.

He also investigated a part-time job, to earn a little extra pocket money, and bought some swimming lessons.

' _I might as well make this existence easier on myself… I could buy some new furniture, or even rent out my own apartment when I get to Tokyo-3…'_ The boy reborn thought.

Years passed, and he came to the age of 14, deep in thought as he was brought into a psychologist's office.

' _This was the guy who forwarded my psyche profile to NERV…'_ Shinji mused inwardly. He intentionally led the doctor to relaying that he had depression. It was all part of the Evangelion Program – that the pilot's _had_ to be 14 year olds, and that they had to be, at their cores, broken.

Reporting back to NERV that Shinji was perfectly healthy would be a problem. Gendo would have no use for a pilot with a healthy, non-manipulable mindset.

So, beyond his goals, Shinji gave the impression of what he'd been in his previous lifetime.

In the end, it worked. Although, not until much later.

2 more years passed, bringing his and the other, capable pilot's ages to 16. Despite his fears of the Third Angel's attack and the possible absence of a letter requesting his presence, he continued to improve himself. He eventually took some driving lessons, despite his age.

After all, life after Second Impact didn't hold much care for the preservation of life. Especially in teenage minds. Despite it not being legal, Shinji managed to find a suitable instructor away from his appointed guardian at the time.

Shinji also took up coding as practice for when the 11th Angel would attack. For that beast, he knew at least he had a chance of communication if he could speak its "language".

A chord of worry struck the teenage boy as the date he'd predicted the Angel would attack passed over him, and it was only on the same day, 2 years later, that his father had reached out to him with a simple letter, via Misato.

And so it was that Shinji packed his things, and went, intent on not wasting any time.

He took the trains, and shuttled himself into an evacuating city, as soon as he received his letter.

Sachiel had risen from the depths, and brought with it horror unseen for 17 years. Shinji smiled at the thought of NERV staff and JSSDF forces rushing through the former's offices, attempting to stall the advance of the Angel with everything they had.

(…)

"It's been 17 years, hasn't it?" Kozo asked his pupil, worry not evident in his physical features, but marring his mind. Gendo nodded his head, his hands intertwined, hiding his face from view.

"Yes, yes it has."

"God damn it, Ikari! Where's the third EVA pilot!? Our ground forces are barely halting this thing's walk, and Tokyo-3 is left defenceless until your new kid is here!" The acting commander of the JSSDF called to the stoic-faced stonewall that was Gendo Ikari.

He pushed his glasses, just a little up the bridge of his nose.

"He will come. Keep the assault on; don't let it get a minute to breathe." Gendo ordered, knowing full well said order would be taken on as a suggestion. The JSSDF commander growled under his breath and directed his forces with a remote headset.

(…)

Shinji's strides became long and fast, and he fastened his bags straps as Misato Katsuragi came speeding around the corner. He held his hands up and yelled something wordless at her. The NERV captain slammed the brakes on her car, and the brown-haired would-be saviour-of-humanity didn't waste a second getting into her car.

"Drive. Now." Shinji barked at her, with a worried expression. With that, Misato reversed and sped back down the way she came, narrowly avoiding a beam of rebar which slammed down behind her car.

' _God damn. Shockwaves from the VTOL's… They're not doing anything to the Angel!'_ She thought, mind set on speeding towards HQ.

' _I've saved about… 2 hours' time. The UN hasn't made use of the N2 mine, yet.'_ He thought to himself, trying to steel his nerves as the titan's steps quaked the earth.

"I'm Captain Misato Katsuragi. You can call me Misato for now, I'll properly introduce myself once-"

"Once the unholy alien giant raiding the city is dead, I understand completely." Shinji said with a short laugh, making Misato smile, despite the tenseness of the scenario. He sighed as they rounded the winding streets, and picked up the manual Misato had in a compartment of her car, trying to see if he'd missed anything since the last time he was with her.

' _I can't let her know my secret. Not yet. I'll do it when I've tried contacting the Angel…'_ He mused, inwardly – thinking on how he'd be able to do such with the big bad baddy currently looming towards the GeoFront.

He knew why it was so intent on reaching the expanse. It wanted Lilith. The instinct to drive it only gave it the direction and the means to do so. Shinji didn't even know if the being could think, let alone communicate with him.

' _If you can even talk… Just know that I'm willing to give you a chance before I must kill you.'_ The now-Pilot Ikari sent thoughts the beast's way, and for a split second, he swore he could see Sachiel's contorted visage snap a look at him.

The second after, it was back on its path to the GeoFront.

(…)

Shinji led Misato silently through the HQ's tunnels, after she realised she didn't know the way around her workplace. She kept her mouth shut as she imagined that Shinji just… had the instinct on where to go.

They found an elevator, and rose up to meet the down-looking face of Gendo Ikari. The Commander of NERV held no emotion as he spoke towards his son. He was, however, taken aback to see that his son didn't even flinch or awe or… do _something_ at the sight of the biological behemoth in front of him.

"Shinji. It's been a…" His words died in his throat as his son emotionlessly strode onto the scaffold which led to the Entry Plug.

"Hand me the Neural Clips, and hurry up. There's no time to waste." Shinji said, feigning ignorance of his father's words, and holding his hand out to a technician near the Plug. The technician handed Shinji the A10 Neural Clips, and Shinji threw the headpiece on, before sitting in at the helm.

Gendo shook his head and quietly cleared his throat.

"Hm. Alright, then. Engineering, prepare to mobilise Eva Unit 01!" He yelled to the shocked crew.

(…)

Shinji sighed, feeling the old platform back in his grasp. He had to forgo the Plugsuit to save time.

As the Entry Plug slid into the spinal cord of Eva-01, the neural presence of the beast surrounded him, and he shivered.

' _I mustn't run away.'_

The overbearing breaths of the lumbering titan he was encased in served to make him fear, to make him worry. But he squashed those emotions and focussed his mind on the mission.

' _I must save everyone.'_

He closed his eyes, and drowned out any chatter he heard over the communicators. He then felt the heavy ascension up to the surface of Tokyo-3.

"EVA Launch!"

' _I… I will save everyone.'_

At the time of his eyes shuttering, he saw a vast expanse of blackness appear in front of him, as if in a barren world of nothingness. It was there he could barely make an outline of two people, vaguely feminine.

' _M-mother…'_

(…)

"Doc-DOCTOR! Come and have a look at these Sync Rate readings!" Shigeru Aoba reported to Ritsuko Akagi. She rushed to the screen readings and adjusted her glasses.

"I'm… I'm seeing things, aren't I?" She whispered to herself. Gendo viewed the screen from afar, like a hawk, and inwardly balked at his son's synchronicity with his EVA.

"It's… jumping from 900% to 1000%." Makoto Hyuga said, double-checking his co-worker's monitor.

"And no damn Plugsuit!? Are you sure our readings aren't off!?" Maya Ibuki asked, trying at first by herself to locate the source of any bugs in the NERV systems.

"Get me a visual of the cockpit, NOW!" Ritsuko yelled, and as the dull screen showed itself, her heart leapt in her chest. Shinji was staring directly out of the eyes of the EVA – they had reached beyond perfect sync, without the young boy dissolving into the life-giving waters of LCL.

His eyes were green, just like 01's, and every twitch of skin he made, the EVA mimicked perfectly. As Shinji was drawn out of his trance, the Sync Rate dropped dramatically, and he lurched forward to catch his breath in the flooding container of LCL.

"Shinji! Pilot Ikari, come in!" Misato gained contact with Shinji once more, and noticed him stir. He smiled at the screen and chuckled.

"Let's get to it. Send everything else back, they'll only get in the way!" Shinji demanded, as it was as much as he could do. The EVA pilot decided that any unnecessary deaths were just that – unnecessary. He would save all that he could.

The remaining forces evacuated the danger zone, and left the Angel to stare dumbly at the equally tall giant that was Evangelion Unit 01. The fleshy, titanic cyborg growled.

(…)

"Shinji's Sync Rate is still astronomical, especially for a first-time pilot. He's keeping steady at 95%. He and the Eva are practically one and the same!" Maya Ibuki said as she forwarded the information to her immediate superiors.

Gendo watched his son, and quelled the pang of worry he felt bubble inside of him. His face remained in an impassive, grim line.

"What is the Angel doing?" Gendo called. Visuals were gained as two massive monitors gave two separate vantage points of the battle that was about to unfold.

"The Angel appears to be stationary. I think… I think it's staring down Eva Unit 01, s-sir." Aoba called out to the Commander, who didn't even nod back to him.

"Pilot Ikari, attack the Angel." Gendo wasn't sure how Shinji knew what to do, how he knew how to pilot the Eva, let alone reach such incredibly high rates of synchronicity. He wasn't about to let the use of this run out prematurely, however, so he sought to command his son as if he'd been piloting for years.

Shinji heard the command, and switched off communications with NERV HQ, severing his video link with the base. His audio feed remained active, however.

He cleared his throat.

"Angel!" The sound came out through exterior broadcasters on Eva-01's armour, yet Sachiel remained impassive. Shinji then further removed the audio feed on his Plug.

' _Sachiel…'_ A voice in the LCL whispered to him. Shinji's became alert and fearful of the voice, yet still kept his gaze forward towards the unmoving Angel.

"S-Sachiel!" Shinji called out to it, and the lumbering alien beast blinked. It tilted its otherwise motionless head.

' _It responds only to its name in this form.'_ The voice called again. Shinji nodded to whatever it was, despite the chill running up his spine, and pressed forward towards the now-named Third Angel.

' _Crack the core. There… find… commune…'_ The voice began whispering way into nothingness, and Shinji was left to actually fight against the Angel one more time. He and the Eva roared as one with a leaping charge at the third Angel. Sachiel was too slow to move, and was pinned down by Eva-01, despite its struggles.

Shinji's Sync Rate rose as combat came to him.

(…)

"Good god… His rate's rising again! 150%!" Shigeru called again, desperately trying to reconnect to Shinji's video feed.

"Ritsuko… If Shinji gets injured in that thing, what will happen to him?" Misato asked, deeply afraid for the boy's safety – for he was still just that – a boy. Ritsuko shook her head and looked down at the ground in sheer disconnect.

"I don't want to know, and I pray we don't end up knowing what happens, Misato." She said, watching as Eva-01 successfully pinned Sachiel down.

(…)

Eva-01 drew its Progressive Knife, and expertly wrapped it's invisible AT-Field around the blade, before striking it down up on the wildly writhing Angel. Silently, and coldly, the knife cut the Angel's arms at the shoulder, leaving nothing but a kicking and roaring beast beneath.

That was when Shinji heard a cry behind him. He turned his head, green eyes present yet again, and saw a familiar face.

It was Toji's sister, Sakura, and she appeared to be shocked frozen, staring endlessly at the duelling titans. Shinji shook his head and growled.

"Run! GET OUT OF HERE!" He tried getting the girl to move, but nothing seemed to work.

Sachiel saw its opponents opening, and took a shot. It charged a red beam of light from its eye sockets and fired directly at Eva-01's chest-plating, intent on destroying the cyborg giant's own power source.

Shinji and the Eva roared together as pure, unbridled pain shot through them both – enough to initiate a pre-berserk state. It thrashed its metal draped fists into the quickly brutalised flesh of Sachiel in retaliation.

Shinji snarled and drove his hands to Sachiel's "face", attempting to rip it off. In their state, the pilot and the cyborg didn't want to kill the Angel – they simply wanted to cause it pain. Slowly regenerated, Sachiel shot forth a recreated arm into Eva-01's, breaking it with a mighty force.

Blood rushed to Shinji's forehead as he fought his body's urge to collapse. Another primal, ripping roar screamed from Eva-01, snapping its jaw-braces. Shinji and the Eva latched their mouth around Sachiel's flesh, and dug in.

(Back at NERV)

"He's… Shinji's gone berserk!" Ritsuko announced, the bridge workers confirming her statement. Misato turned to Gendo with a dangerously worried look.

"Sir, he's just a child, we have to disable the plug before he damages himself!" Said Misasto, her voice shaking at the horror of the sights.

Gendo's mouth stood slightly agape, and anxiety flared with him at his son's condition. Despite all that had occurred, despite how he appeared to others, his son's safety close to the top of his priorities.

Bringing Yui back was first,

Shinji's wellbeing was second,

And humanity could take third spot, for all he cared.

Despite all this, his son had use as a pilot, and he'd be damned if that talent of Shinji's was for nothing.

"Not yet. Override his communications and re-establish a link. Make sure to keep every camera we have centred on him and the Angel." The NERV commander ordered. The colour drained from Misato's face.

"S-sir, he's your child!"

"That was an order, Captain." Gendo reprimanded her, letting the tiniest break in his voice become audible.

(Tokyo-3)

The Angel was left defenceless, and despite every sign and signal urging it to suicide bomb the aggressor, it couldn't muster the energy to do so. It simply lied there as Eva-01 tore into it, eventually snapping off one of its ribs to drive deep into the core.

' _Core! …STOP!'_

With that Shinji regained control. Angel flesh fell from Eva-01's mouth, and Shinji was able to taste it all. Resisting the urge to vomit, he violently plucked Sachiel's blood-red core from the shreds of its remains.

Evangelion Unit 01 cradled the core close to itself, and witnessed what lied within it.

' _This… This is… Is this what all Angels contain?'_ Shinji thought, his hands shaking violently as he bore witness to the rocked, pained form of a human-looking woman who slept in the core of the Angel.

' _Tear it open. Consume the remains. Initiate contact.'_ The LCL voice whispered. In time with another, Shinji and the Eva shaped their AT Fields around their fingers, deftly piercing the core of the Angel, yet leaving its "pilot" intact.

The passenger within the core was plucked out, and the remains were consumed, much to the disgust of Shinji. He bit back the bile, and finally swallowed the fleshy, spherical core.

He needed to make peace with the Angels, one way or the other.

But if he couldn't, then he'd need an S2 core, or an S2 engine to fight the Angels.

He took note of the human-looking… Angel? What was she? He could clearly tell that whatever she was, she only appeared to be a few years, if any, older than Shinji.

The Eva cradled the woman in his arms, and returned to the bowels of the GeoFront.

(…)

"Communications re-established!"

"Captain, please explain to me what the hell the Third Child just did." Kozo Fuyutsuki asked of his subordinate, Misato. She couldn't believe the horrific sight herself, so she turned slowly to her superior officer and shrugged.

"Shinji- The-the… They just killed and ate the Angel, C-Commander…" She managed to whisper out.

NERV's very first opportunity to prove the Evangelion series in combat, and they flourished.

"Hey… Did you guys see him use the Knife? How… How did he even know to use that?" Shigeru asked, as flabbergasted as anyone. Maya looped and replayed some footage showing Shinji's extensive use of the weapon.

"He was even able to mould his AT Field around the blade to make it strike deeper and cut cleaner." Maya said, before emptying the contents of her stomach within a nearby bin. She didn't know whether it was just nerves, or the fact that the beast NERV had built had just torn open and _ate_ an Angel.

"What is he carrying?" Gendo asked, overwhelmed with relief that his son appeared to be okay, if he could tell properly from the open video screen.

"It appears to be a person, sir." A tech called out, as the main camera feed zoomed in on Eva-01's cradled palm. Shinji stared at the video monitor which connected him to NERV HQ.

"Prepare another space at the medical wing. And Commander?" Shinji asked, staring at his monitor as if to stare directly into his father's eyes. Gendo held back a flinch, appearing not to emote at all.

"Yes?"

"I need to speak to you. Make room in your schedule for me." Shinji said with a bitter laugh. Gendo did naught but a nod as his son's communication went dark for a moment.

(Later…)

Shinji placed the "woman" in care of NERV's medical staff, praying that they wouldn't yet discover her true origin.

Misato led Shinji to the Commander's Office, and upon arriving at the door, it swung open. It was being held by Gendo's hand.

"Thank you, Captain. That will be all." Blinking at the Commander's actions, Misato let Shinji enter, and stood at the door, even as it closed.

Shinji sighed and ignored the bloody smell of the LCL staining his body. He also bit back more vomit at the memory of Lilith, bleeding out a lake of the stuff for NERV's use. Gendo sat at his desk, before motioning for Shinji to sit down.

"I assume this is of vital importance, Third Child. My time is valuable." The Commander stated. It was cold, yes, but there were hidden eyes and ears all around his room.

Especially SEELE's.

"I'm sure it is, Commander." Shinji spat back at him, thinly veiling his rage. The thoughts of abandonment, social isolation, and awkward alienation of his early years came back to him, but they were shot down the moment they crept up.

"I need absolute confidentiality in the matters I'm about to discuss." Shinji said, dropping the angry act. Gendo took a look at the resolve in his son's eyes, and nodded. He held a button on his desk and cleared his throat.

"Ritsuko."

"Yes, Commander?"

"My fingers ache. Could you please send some balm up?"

"Of course, Commander."

And with that, a short, high-pitched whine rang throughout the office. As it ended, small pops could be heard, along with sizzling. The smoke of burnt electronics filled the area and dissipated quickly. Shinji laughed as he realised what his father had done.

"Your fingers ache?" He asked Gendo, who unfurled said fingers and smiled slightly.

"It was Ritsuko's idea. Utter a phrase I would never say to short-circuit all devices in my office. Useful to deter prying eyes." The man explained, sighing and sliding down in his chair.

"We have 5 minutes to talk before those devices restart. Whatever you want to talk about, do it now." Gendo went back to his commanding voice. Shinji nodded and breathed deeply. He needed to talk fast, but clearly.

"I won't bullshit, then. I was reborn with the memories of the future." Shinji said. His father simply stared at him, a disbelieving gaze boring into Shinji's eyes.

"Prove it."

"Misato was recently signed on. You have another patient in the medical wing called Rei. She's actually a clone of my mother, mixed with Lilith's DNA. Lilith's body is also kept in Central Dogma. I was able to achieve such high Sync Rates and pilot the Eva so well because I've been inside it before." Shinji said quickly. He needed help from the highest point in the chain of NERV, and to do so, he needed them to believe him.

"…"

"Do you need anything else? The reason you abandoned me was to find a way to bring back mother. You couldn't bear to live without her, so you left me and were forced to work with SEELE to do it." Said the Third Child, his heart beating wildly as he controlled his rage again.

With the silence in the office, the boy could swear he heard something drip.

"Not enough!? Ryoji Kaji has the embryo of Adam, and he's going to deliver it to Japan about… Two months from now. SEELE also has a human vessel that contains Adam's Soul, like how Rei contains fragments of Lilith's." Shinji went on. His father held a hand up.

They had 3 minutes left.

"I believe you." Gendo took his glasses off, and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his coat.

"Of course I believe you, Shinji. You're my son." He said with a smile. Shinji was taken aback at the words. He had never, ever, _ever_ heard Gendo mention anything that even implied the two were related…

' _What… What the hell?'_ The Third Child thought.

"So… You're from the future." He said, rather rushed. Shinji nodded.

"I have the memories of my past self." The boy clarified. Gendo nodded, and spent a few seconds asking himself the important questions he needed to ask his son.

"What happened?" It was a simple, yet layered question. The Eva pilot cringed as the memories hit him.

"15 Angels attacked us, one by one, and Third Impact occurred when Rei managed to merge with Lilith and Adam, and when SEELE deployed their Mass Production Evas. I tried to stop them with Unit 01, but I was crucified and used to create the Tree of Life." Said Shinji, condensing as much as he could.

"What happened to the NERV? The other pilots? Did… Was I able to see Yui again?" Gendo pressed on.

Two minutes remained.

"SEELE deployed a mercenary group to assault NERV so that we'd be crippled when Third Impact was initiated. They saw you as a liability when you'd completed your tasks." He said, wiping away his own tears at the losses of life.

"The Second Child, Asuka, was overpowered, torn apart, and eaten by the Mass Production Evas. The Fourth Child, a student from my class… You forced me to kill him when the 13th Angel infected his Eva Unit. The Fifth Child, Kaworu – he contained Adam's soul. And I… I was forced to end his life." Shinji went on, tears pouring freely as his voice never wavered, recalling the events with perfect detail.

"And… You saw her. I guess it'd all been worth it for ya, right?" Chuckled the boy, not an essence of mirth in his words. Gendo nodded at the influx of information, before beginning to quietly sob.

"I'm… I'm sorry that happened…" He said, staring into the pained eyes of his son. Shinji was once again taken aback by his father's words. The young teen stared into his father's own tortured eyes.

"I… I tried to do what I could. I wanted Yui back for the both of us, Shinji…" He let a chuckle out at a memory of the three of them going out for lunch. He then shook his head.

"When you were born… I cried. I love you, and when Yui and I held you… I thought there was nothing we couldn't achieve together. That me and your mother would save you from the hell of the world after Second Impact." He said, smiling at the son who stared back, shocked beyond anything.

"When Yui gave herself to the core, I thought that I couldn't… That I couldn't do it by myself. I couldn't have given you the love you deserved. And when I sent you away, I lost another piece of myself. I made bringing Yui back my top priority, so that we could…" He lost himself to sobs, unable to face his son.

"I thought I could make us a family again. But… It's clear I failed." Gendo said, bring his teary gaze back into his son's own.

"I failed you. And I failed your mother, too. All I've done is sully her legacy and betray the two of you." Gendo Ikari, Commander of NERV, admitted. The man shook his head, and carefully cleared his tears away.

"I am sorry, Shinji."

They had 30 seconds left. Shinji was silent, for an eternity it seemed, as his tears flowed without resistance. The boy stood, emotions flaring within him, and breathed.

"There's more to discuss. We should meet at mother's grave a few days from now." Shinji said, and as the devices kicked on, and as Gendo fixed his appearance back up, the teenager looked back at his dad, no longer seeing the villainous monster that pervaded his existence and ruined his life.

He saw a human, instead.

"Listen… I'm not ready to forgive you. You've caused me a lot of pain, in both lifetimes… But I'm willing to give the father I have in this life another chance." Shinji said, smiling at his dad. Gendo took his time to be shocked at his son's words, and smiled inwardly at the close of the door.

' _Let's hope, Yui…'_

(At the Medical Wing)

Shinji sat at the sleeping Rei's side, and inwardly chastised himself.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Rei. I was a terrible friend, if you could even call me that. All the time I spent complaining, I didn't realise how the people around me suffered so badly." He whispered. She appeared to stir, making it apparent that her sleep was getting deeper, and more recuperative.

Shinji shyly kissed the top of her head, and a ghost of a smile appeared on Rei's lips.

"I'm going to change that in this timeline, though. I'm going to make sure you, Asuka, Kaworu… I'm going to make sure you all survive, and that we all work our problems out, together…" Said the pilot, before softly squeezing the First Child's hand. Little did he know that he was being monitored.

(Deeper within NERV)

Ritsuko stared into the security cameras, and smiled at the boy's actions, even if his words were odd.

' _Timeline? What does he mean?'_ But despite it, the doctor noticed that Rei had entered REM sleep. This was odd for the clone, as the fragments of Lilith's soul that resided in her prevented such rest.

It even halted Rei from dreaming.

As Shinji left the view of her camera, Rei soon fell back into NREM sleep, and stirred once more. Ritsuko's eyes widened, and she sighed, rubbing her temples softly.

"This Third Child is going to be a pain." Muttered the tired doctor.

(Not long after…)

Shinji overlooked the quietly sleeping remnant of the Angel Sachiel. She was clad in a patient gown, and appeared to be wincing in pain. Shinji held her hand softly, like with Rei's, and made sure no one was within earshot.

"Who, or whatever you are, I hope we can have the chance to talk. I don't want to fight you, and I don't want to hurt you." He whispered in her ear. As this happened, Shinji felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What's her condition?" His father asked of him. Shinji pulled out her patient notes at the end of her bed, and read on.

"She's stable, but exhausted. She's also sustained minor damage which reflects the damage I inflicted on the Angel…" Shinji reported back, sensing his father nodding behind him.

"Sachiel?" Gendo asked his son.

"Y-yes. A voice told me the Angel's name." The Third Child confirmed, looking a bit worried.

"A voice? In the LCL?"

"…I think so." At this, Gendo became quiet.

"Could it have been Yui?"

"N-… No. It didn't sound like her."

"Hm. Investigate to see if you can contact that voice once more. We will run some tests tomorrow, have you training in the Test Evas and Unit-01, to see if makes any difference." Gendo mentioned offhandedly. Shinji nodded again, and his father turned to leave.

Before he did, he angled a stare back at the troubled teen.

"And… Shinji?"

"Yeah?"

"Where did you find that girl?" The commander asked. Shinji tapped something on his phone, and showed it to his father, whose eyes widened considerably. He lost his voice in his throat and finally nodded.

"Oh."

"Keep this under wraps for now. I don't want your friends to find out about her origins." The boy muttered under his breath.

"Of course. But it will eventually come to light."

"And I'll be the one to make it so. But only when we have enough power to defend against any unwanted company." Shinji uttered, just a bit lower than before.

With his newfound knowledge, and foothold back into humanity, Gendo set off with a determined smile. Shinji squeezed the angelic woman's hand tightly just as he left.

He made his way out of NERV to the car trains, and met his old guardian, Misato. He smiled at her, and didn't notice the tiny blush that flushed on her cheeks.

"Good evening, Shinji. I assume the Commander told you that'd we'd be bunking together?" She said from the driver's seat of her car.

"Yes, ma'am." He teased her, walking around to the front passenger's seat without invitation.

"Don't say that! Makes me sound old…" She whined indignantly at Shinji's hearty chuckle.

"I'm only teasing, Misato. Are we going to the market before we head to your place?" The boy asked. She nodded and his shoulders relaxed noticeably.

The car was transported out from the GeoFront, and Misato's phone rang on the way.

"Hmm? Oh, hi Ritsuko…" The captain began. Shinji slid back in his seat and began drifting off to sleep, the sound of Misato's lovely voice lulling him to dreamland.

"Yes, I'm taking care of him now…" He then heard Ritsuko's garbled voice burble back worriedly.

"I'm a perfectly capable guardian, and I'm insulted that you would think otherwise! Besides, it's not like I'm going to put the moves on him…" She teased both her friend and her new charge, who was sleeping like a baby, covered in the blood of its evolutionary Mother.

Shinji let a smile out as he heard Ritsuko's screaming, outraged reply. It seemed like the good doctor had a soft spot for him he didn't realise. Misato held the phone away from her ear and winced at the volume of her friend.

"Geez! Some people just can't take a joke, right, Shinji?" She asked the sleeping boy, who chuckled.

(Some minutes later)

They had arrived at the supermarket and, using his hard-earned cash, Shinji bought some supplies for cooking _actual_ food, as the memories of Misato's own brand of nightmarish cookery still haunted him.

He ignored the chatter, and yawned as his food supplies were processed by the equally tired cashier.

Misato noticed that despite Shinji's impassive, even slightly happy exterior, he was suppressing demons. She'd heard only utterances of the Contact Experiment involving his mother, but beyond that, there was more threading through his troubled mind.

He had the thousand-yard stare of a war veteran who'd seen his friends murdered, because that was what he'd seen.

Shinji suppressed his own thoughts. His friends had died, but they were back. He'd bring them to safety, and they'd all be happy, without the need for Human Instrumentality.

"Hm? Misato, are you okay?" He asked the woman, who looked equally tired. She shook her head out of those endlessly depressing thoughts and nodded to the boy.

"Yeah, Shinji. Just been a long day." She lied. Idle thoughts led to remembering horrors.

The two departed, and were back in Misato's relatively undamaged car again.

As the tired Third Child leant back in his seat and stared at the road, Misato squirmed in her seat.

"Something wrong?"

"Just… How did you learn to pilot like that, Shinji? Our records show that you've never stepped foot in a simulation room, and you've had no prior conditioning for piloting the Eva… I'm just… And how did you know where to attack on the Angel?" Pressured the Operations Director. Shinji stared out the front window of the car for a few seconds.

"You neutralised the damn thing before it had a chance to explode, and saved the city a lot of damage! You fought like you've had years in the damn thing… Just… What's going on!?" She yelled out to him. Shinji sighed, and sat up in his seat.

"What I tell you must remain between us." Shinji pleaded with the woman, who nodded frantically.

"Of course, just please, give me some answers!"

"I mean it. If you leak anything to the wrong person, then it means I'll be captured and interrogated for the rest of my natural born life." Shinji uttered darkly. Misato was taken aback, but pressured on, nonetheless.

"I promise on my father's grave that what we discuss will stay between us." She said. Shinji knew how much her old man meant to her. He nodded.

"I was able to pilot the Eva so well because I've been inside it before."

"You snuck in to NERV HQ without anyone noticing?"

"No. I was reborn with the memories of my past self."

"What!? Is this some kind of joke to you?" Misato yelled at the boy as she slammed the brakes on her car. Shinji growled at her as anger flared in his heart.

"I SAW MY FRIENDS DIE! I HEARD ASUKA'S SCREAMS AS SHE WAS TORN APART AND EATEN! I WAS FORCED TO MURDER THE TWO CLOSEST FRIENDS I'D EVER HAD!" He yelled back at her, tears flowing once more. He calmed himself down and wept.

"So, n-no. It's not a fucking joke to me." Misato shrunk in her seat at the backlash of her accusation. She could see in his eyes now that the pain was very _, very_ real for him.

"You know Asuka…" Misato mumbled after a while. Shinji sighed shakily, getting his emotions back under control.

"Yeah. She was loud, rude, and constantly belittled me. But I considered her a friend…" The two sat in the car for a good, long while. Misato's breathing was uneven, and shaky, and her thoughts raced to find a suitable question that wouldn't aggravate the scarred teen.

"How much do you know?" She asked him.

"I know that your father saved you from Second Impact. You two didn't get along well, but he loved you, no matter what. And he sacrificed himself so that you could live. And it's tearing you up inside, even now." Shinji muttered. Misato's heart leapt in her chest, not for the first time today, as tears began to prick at her eyes.

"So… You… You must really be from the future, then. What happens to us?" She asked, worriedly. Shinji sighed, depressively, at being forced to explain the entire situation again. He gave his best condensed version, and Misato's eyes went wide in shock, again, not for the first time today.

"We all die." Misato confirmed. Shinji nodded again.

"I don't plan on letting that happen now." The Third Child told her, with as much determination as he could put into his voice. Misato looked at the boy in shock, again.

"What?"

"You heard me. I am going to make sure that no one dies now. I will make sure that every tortured soul I meet will be healed. I will ignore my own pain to help them through theirs."

"And I will make peace with the Angels." Shinji muttered. Misato jolted in her seat at this.

"WHAT!?"

"You heard me, Misato. The woman I brought in to the medical wing today was found in the core of the Angel I fought. I assume she's part of it, like how a Pilot runs the Eva. I plan to make contact with her when she wakes up."

"You can't be serious!"

"I am, Misato. I will do whatever I can to prevent Third Impact from occurring, even if it means working with the enemy." The Third Child said, with an absolute tone. Misato nodded, knowing she wouldn't be able to change his mind.

"Shinji?"

"Yeah?"

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry that you had to experience that." She said, tightly gripping the steering wheel of her car. Shinji smiled.

"Thanks, Misato." And with that, the two drove off to their new apartment.

(Some minutes later)

Shinji arrived, and smiled at Misato's dirty-as-hell apartment.

"Yeah… Sorry about the mess…" She mumbled, rubbing the back of her head. As she went to sit down, and crack open yet another beer, Shinji plucked it from her hands.

"New rule in this house. Before you drink, you clean." Shinji said with a devlish smile. Misato growled at him deeply.

"You can't do this, you know, I'm the adult!" She bit back. Shinji just shrugged his shoulders and maintained his shit-eating grin.

"This place was continuously a sty last time. This time, I'm going to try and keep it clean." Misato groaned indignantly at the commanding boy, and slid off her chair. She came to him with some garbage bags, and they started cleaning the place up.

"I'll draw up a chore plan, and I'll update when Asuka gets here." The young teen mentioned, as they finalised cleaning the apartment.

"Asuka will be staying here?" The Operations Director asked her new charge, who nodded as he went to the small kitchen and prepared himself, Misato, and Pen-Pen a meal.

"Yep. She'll be a real pain in the ass, don't worry. And when she does get here, can you make sure she doesn't steal my room?" Shinji asked.

"She steals your room?"

"Yeah, and I spend the rest of my days sleeping in that shitty closet over there." The Third Child said, motioning to the room next to his. Misato shrugged her shoulders, and decided to tease the poor boy.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure that after a few days you two will be staying in the same room." She began.

"Huh?"

"Oh yes. A charmer like you will have no trouble seducing our little German sourpuss. You two will be in bed together before you know it!" The woman teased, making Shinji blush and stammer out his next response.

"Th-that's lewd! I'd never… Me and Asuka are just incompatible!" He yelled back. Misato giggled at his suffering.

"You'll surprise yourself, Shinji. If you do actually manage to help these girls through their problems, they'll be more than indebted to you." The woman's tone went serious. Shinji shook his head as the scent of fish and curry wafted through the apartment.

"I don't want them to date me because they feel obligated. I just want to be their friend." He replied, softly.

"You give yourself too little credit, Mister Ikari. When they all get to know you, they'll all want a piece of you." The woman went back to teasing, and Shinji sighed.

' _She hasn't changed a bit.'_ He thought with a small smirk. After Pen-Pen revealed himself, Shinji gave the bird a hug, and presented him with a meal, making it a very happy pet.

Then, after dinner, Shinji dumped his things in his room and went to bathe. He was alone with thoughts for so long, it felt, and sunk deeper into the water as it removed any traces of LCL from his body, or hair.

The cleansing element of the bath dulled his senses, and the boy couldn't hear what his new guardian was saying.

"Shinji? You in there? It's just that I need to-" She open the bathroom door without consideration of its resident, and balked at the sight of the incredibly toned, well-endowed, 16 year old "boy" that was casually laying the tub before her.

His eyes were closed, and in his ears were waterproof earbuds, connected to his SDAT player. It was only after a minute of near-silence did he notice the shocked-solid NERV Operations Director, eating him alive with her eyes.

"Hm? What the- MISATO! GET OUT OF HERE!" He pushed the intruding woman out of the bathroom, not noticing the small trickle of blood leaking out of her nose. He sat his back against the bathroom door, before hearing the woman scramble back into her room.

(Some minutes later)

Shinji was dressed in his sleeping clothes, and held his phone out in front of him, checking his bank account balance.

"Market purchase… NERV payment? What the hell?" The message that came with the large transaction made Shinji's chest drop.

"To Shinji, from Gendo Ikari… "For keeping the world safe. This is monthly." …Holy shit!" Shinji yelled out, already liking this existence more than his previous one.

With this new income, he could afford a brand-new car within two months…

The boy pumped his chest with his fist to keep himself from passing out.

"Shinji? Everything okay in there?" His guardian called.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm… I'm… I'm just fucking great." The boy yelled back.

(…)

It was finally bed time, and Shinji smiled to himself as he stared up at the familiar ceiling.

He could still hear the footsteps and some people chattering outside, and he was keen for many, many hours of sleep. He'd be starting school tomorrow, and the next Angel would appear soon after that.

He thought on Kensuke, Toji, Hikari – his friends. If his father had changed the way he acted in this timeline, who was to say his friends from his previous life wouldn't be any different? Already, his world was changing around him, and despite the crushing pit of loneliness he couldn't quell inside him, he was determined to move on and to heal others.

He smiled to himself as he closed his eyes, and began resting easily. Only after a few minutes did he hear gentle sobs emanating from Misato's room. He sighed and got out of bed. He carefully went to the woman's messy room and opened the door.

"Sh-Shinji! What are you doing here? Is there something wrong?" She asked him, quickly hiding her tears in the moonlight. Shinji put his finger to his lips in an suggestion to shush her. He climbed in her bed and hugged around her waist.

"Shinji! This is wrong!" The woman said, trying to distance herself from the boy.

"Misato." He said, stopping her.

"Just rest, okay? I won't try anything. I just want to help, remember?" The Third Child mentioned. Misato turned her back to him, and he took the invitation, wrapping his arms around her, protectively.

She silently wept in his grasp, and he stayed up the entire night, soothing her with sweet words and gentle hums. After a while, he began rubbing her back, and Misato fell to sleep with the smallest of smiles on her face.

Shinji smiled to her, and noticed the time, before cursing. He didn't bother moving himself that night, and instead stayed by his guardian's side, soon getting to sleep himself.

And for once, Misato's dreams didn't replay the nightmare that was her father saving her from the horrors of the Second Impact.

* * *

A/N: Yes, I break canon. Shut up. I care, but I don't want to waste valuable wordspace.


	2. The Lonely Conqueror

A/N: This story actually started out as a promise I made to a person saying that I'd destroy this series, piece by painful piece.

* * *

The boy reborn awoke.

And for the first time since he'd been able to have memories, he didn't wake up in a sweat. He didn't wake up shaking, angry with himself that he couldn't stop his mother from merging her body and soul into the core of Eva Unit 01.

The thought brought great sadness to him, but looking down at the woman he held in his arms, it was replaced as soon as it came. He smiled as Misato stirred awake with a groan.

"Mm… What time is it?" She asked, clearly feeling at least a little hung over. Shinji shifted, and went back to hugging the woman.

"7 in the morning." Shinji grumbled. He heard Misato moan further, as she reset her alarm clock.

"That's a first… Wait." The older woman then realised their compromising position, and leapt out of bed.

"Ah!"

"What is it?"

"Did… Did we do anything last night?" Misato asked her charge, with a deep red blush. Shinji shook his head innocently, getting up to stretch.

"Nope. I heard you crying, and I came in here. You fell asleep in my arms." The young teen said. Misato gave him a soft judging stare, as if she was attempting to evaluate his words for the truth.

"…"

"I wouldn't try anything like that, Misato. I'm here to help people, remember?" He reminded her, exiting her room and going back to his to sort out his items before he headed to school.

Misato shook her head, and freshened up at the unnaturally early time to wake up. After a few minutes of thinking back on her good night's sleep and lack of nightmare, the smell of _fantastic_ cooking wafted through her room levitating her off her feet and into the kitchen.

It was there, she saw Shinji staring out the window, coffee cup in hand, and face set in a grim line.

' _School starts soon. I should warn Misato now, and phone Gendo so any teams they have can get prepared… Wonder if Toji or Kensuke are any different…'_ He took a sip of coffee and almost cried at the pleasure of the taste. He poured a cup for Misato, and handed it to her.

She held a hand up, and waived the beverage away.

"No, no thanks. I'll just have a Yebi-"

"Not on my watch." Shinji muttered, slamming her fridge shut as the Captain went to reach for a cold beer. Despite her childish huffs, she eventually took the steaming hot coffee and sipped on it leisurely.

"Stupid Shinji…" She muttered, under her breath. The Third Child shook his head and sighed.

"You're not going to slowly kill yourself on my watch." Was his reasoning. The Captain still huffed and puffed herself.

If she had to admit, she was actually enjoying the cup of coffee.

"You'll only be drinking after work. And then, only 3 beers a night." Misato groaned and slumped in her chair, perking up after the boy brought her a big, hearty breakfast. As she dug in, Shinji went back to staring out into space, with a coffee mug in hand.

"Alright… Maybe more, but only if it's a party, Misato." He reasoned with her.

After finishing their breakfast, and remembering how much time he had left to set things up, Shinji wrote a note for Misato to memorise, then destroy.

Using his newly gifted cellular phone, the boy struck up a conversation with his father.

"Hello? Commander?" The boy reborn greeted. A slight hiss of static was heard before Gendo picked up.

"Morning, Shinji. How are you feeling?" Gendo asked his son, letting a tiny smile grace his grizzly face.

"I'm fine, for the most part. A giant bruise on the arm the Angel broke, and some burns on my chest." The boy confessed, unknowingly alerting the eavesdropping Ritsuko, who began scribbling notes down on the effects of Eva piloting.

"Well… Sorry to hear. Healing up okay?" He inquired, using a tone he hadn't used in… Ever. At all. It made Shinji's skin crawl, until he realised that this Gendo was different to the manipulative puppet master from his other lifetime.

Hopefully.

"Yeah. As much as can be expected, anyway. I called to organise a meeting, Commander." Shinji admitted to his father.

' _Father… Didn't I promise myself I wouldn't occupy my thoughts with that crap? Well… it's on my spare time, so I guess it's not completely negative to my goals…'_ The young teen thought deeply, scratching his chin.

Gendo cleared his throat.

"Of course. How does the… Yasashiku Ito Garden sound?" It took Shinji a while to get what his father was saying.

' _Yasa… YIG… Yui Ikari's Grave…'_

"That sounds great. This afternoon would be best to meet." Shinji agreed. His father smiled at the thought, and reminded himself not to mark the meeting in his PDA.

"Fantastic. I'll meet you there at 3PM, then." And with that, the phone was hung up, with no goodbyes. To the cameras and listening devices in his office, it sounded and looked like Commander Ikari was ordering lunch for a date.

(Some time later)

Shinji caught a bus to NERV HQ, and using his (also) newly gifted access card, he gained access to the patient wards, where he saw the recovering Rei Ayanami reading a book. With a small grin, he waved at the girl, who stared at him with an impassive look.

"Good morning. I'm Shinji." He greeted the clone, who looked at him before turning back to her book.

"Good morning, Pilot Ikari." She greeted back, as she'd been taught to. It was "polite", after all.

"How are you feeling?" Like his father had asked him, he'd ask Rei on her condition. Her breathing was shallow, one of her arms was in a cast, and it looked like she'd suffered some damage to her eye.

"I'm in some amount of pain. Though the painkillers are alleviating the majority of it." Rei reported back stoically.

"You're Rei, right?" He asked her for her name, as she wouldn't be pressed to give it to him otherwise.

"That is correct. My name is Rei Ayanami, Pilot Ikari." She confirmed, staring at him for three seconds, before going back to her book. She caught herself taking longer and longer looks at the boy, for some reason.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Rei. I hope you get well soon." Shinji said as he left her, smiling. As he did, an odd, unknown feeling surged within the pilot of Unit 00. She closed her book, and asked a nurse to draw the curtains of her room.

' _I had such an odd sleep last night.'_ She thought to herself, before taking some more prescribed painkillers to numb the otherwise awful pain that crept up once again. She then fell into a deep, deep slumber.

Unbeknownst to the Lilith clone, Shinji was leant against a wall outside the patient's room, and was pretending to tap something on his phone. The boy was actually deep in thought once more, and couldn't stop himself from sighing as he thought about his next plan of attack.

His thoughts went to the voice inside Eva 01, and then his mother's soul. As if on cue, his phone actually buzzed with a notification, from Misato.

It simply read "You're needed down at test cages. Impromptu test."

The Third Child nodded to no-one, and travelled to said cages, knowing exactly what the test was.

(Some time later)

"Hey, Shinji!" Misato called to the quickly arriving boy, who smiled and nodded to her as a greeting back.

"The Commander told me that you heard a voice in the LCL, yes?" Misato asked the teen, who nodded in response again.

"He wants us to attempt contact with it again, and to determine whether it was globally within the LCL, the Eva attempting contact… Or just your imagination." Ritsuko popped her head in through the many offices that faced the opposite cages.

Shinji sighed, and nodded once more.

"So… I'll hop in, then." And so he went, grabbing a slightly different looking Plugsuit than was in his previous lifetime. Instead of a mix of black, blue, and white, the new suit had some red flushes on either side of his body.

Despite the change, Shinji liked the new look, and quickly hopped in to the test Eva designated for him. Several minutes passed after they took up normal protocol, Shinji grinning as Ritsuko read out random numbers and percentages.

After a while, his sync ratings rose dramatically.

"Alright… The Third Child's Sync Ratio is capping out at 80%." Shigeru Aoba, called to monitor the tests, announced. He still shook his head at the insanely high rates, and Misato had to repress the memories of how the boy knew how to get such ratings.

"Good. Shinji?" The blonde doctor called out to the closed-eye pilot.

"Yup?"

"Let yourself go, and attempt to contact the voice." Ritsuko ordered. The pilot nodded, and complied.

Some minutes passed before Shinji truly let go his active consciousness.

' _Hello? Anyone here, in hanging out in this blood?'_ The mental representation of the boy asked out in his barren black void. Unknowingly, the young teen was actually warping his AT Field to pierce through the LCL, like a bright, sinewy tendril.

"Captain, Doctor?" Aoba called the two over to eye his screen.

"Detecting some unnatural patterns within the LCL. There's certain spots were it changes from one state of matter to another…" Shigeru explained, pointing to said intrusions which were displayed on his screen.

"Any identification?" Ritsuko asked simply.

"Where is it coming from?" Misato added. Shigeru typed on his keyboard, and enlarged his window for the rest of the bridge staff to witness.

"It's coming from Shinji… I think that's… I think that's him… reaching out." The man went from furiously typing to simple clicks and taps. Ritsuko adjusted her glasses and wiped some gunk out of her eyes.

"Another report on his Sync Ratio." She demanded, seconds later being represented with the information.

"It's rising to yesterday's levels, ma'am. And… We're detecting another intrusion. Another tear in the LCL is intertwining with Shinji's… thing?" Even the bridge bunny himself was confused, but the many screens focussed on Shinji displayed what was happening quite clearly.

(…)

' _YO!'_ Shinji yelled in his mind, hearing nothing but reverberation.

' _Greetings…'_

' _What the… Who are you?'_

' _I am… I am.'_

' _Oh, fantastic. Really though, what are you?'_

' _I am the voice. A voice.'_

' _Yeah, no, I can understand that. To me, to the human race – what are you?'_

' _I am… I am the speaker of them…'_

' _Speaker of who? The Angels?'_

' _If that is your denomination for those beings invading your world, then yes. I am the Speaker of the Angels.'_

' _You helped me yesterday. If you speak for them, then why did you help me?'_

' _Did my voice help you?'_

' _I was able to call the Angel by name. I account that to be a tactical advantage in a certain way.'_

' _I see.'_ There was a brief pause.

The boy reborn could not see anything around him, and he had lost the sensation of sitting down. It was as if hours had passed.

' _You are the seeker of peace?'_ The toneless voice asked him.

' _If that is your denomination of the person who was reborn in a recreated world, then yes. I am the Seeker of Peace, between Angels and humanity.'_

' _Interesting.'_

' _Do you wish for peace?'_ Shinji asked.

'… _We do what we must. The mother of all commands it.'_

' _So it is a built-in drive.'_

' _Drive?'_

' _To do what the Angels do.'_

' _Which is?'_

' _Seek whatever it is you seek. How do I stop you from doing so?'_

' _Total annihilation of the core.'_

' _In a peaceful manner, I mean.'_

' _I don't wish to tell you.'_

' _So why did you help me yesterday?'_

' _I exist within the blood of your progenitor. When you reached out, we reached contact.'_ Another moment of silence followed.

' _And?'_

' _The will of those within your monolith overpowered my own. They used my knowledge against my own kind.'_

' _Well, I apologise for that.'_

' _You have made contact with one of my own?'_ The Speaker asked, genuinely curious.

' _Your own?'_

' _Angels, as you refer to them.'_

' _The human within Sachiel's core?'_

' _She is not human.'_

' _She certainly looks it.'_

' _She is not human.'_

' _In any case, yes, only physical though. She has yet to awaken.'_

' _Hm. You wish peace between Angels and Lilin?'_

' _If at all possible, yes.'_

' _Interesting.'_ Yet another moment of silence followed.

' _Hello?'_

Silenced reigned, and the experiment was called off. Shinji was brought back into reality after only 2 minutes of real time. Misato was there to meet the physically drained boy, as he slid out of the test plug.

"What's your report, Third Child?" Ritsuko asked, offering him a bottle of water, which he quickly chugged and enjoyed.

"A voice… Calling itself the Speaker of the Angels… It called out to me…" At that, he blocked his ears as both Misato and Ritsuko's eyes went wide.

"What!?"

"I'll have a full report by the end of the day, Doc." Shinji told her, before he moved on to the showers, without much argument.

(Some time later)

The boy was now visiting the other special patient within NERV. Creeping to the side of her bed, Shinji looked on at the peacefully sleeping form of…

Whatever it was, that came from inside the Angel's core.

He grasped her hand again, and analysed her form.

There was no doubt about it, and it was as how Ritsuko had told him the last time around – the Angel's matter held a 99.89% similarity to human DNA. And if what Kaworu told him held any truth at all, then the Angels themselves had the power to determine their own form.

The only question was – why human? Why would it revert back to a stage like this, after fighting in an alien titan form for an undetermined amount of time?

It appeared that Shinji was about to have his questions answered, as the…

Whatever it was, stirred to life. Her long, straight blonde hair creased itself as she sat up, and for the first time, Shinji could note her eyes – they were alternating between a blood red, like Rei and Kaworu's, and a soft blue.

She was fairly tall, and thin, but not sickly. This woman had a small nose, and thick, cracked lips.

Groggily, she opened her eyes, and smacked her lips together. Shinji raced down the NERV corridors, and returned with a pitcher of cold water and a glass.

"I owe you my life." The woman said, after denying the glass, and downing the pitcher. The young teen chuckled as he sat back in his chair.

"That's not necessary, but I appreciate the offer."

There was a heavy silence that followed after the woman lied back down, staring at the ceiling.

"What's your name?" She asked him.

"My name is Shinji Ikari. I pilot one of the Evas here." He greeted her.

"Yours?"

"Hm?" She asked back, snapping back from staring into space.

"What's your name?" Shinji clarified.

"Sachiel." She replied, choppily. The boy sat in his chair, staring over her for a while, before speaking up once more.

"So… Do you remember anything?"

"Clarify, please." Sachiel demanded, breathing slowly and leisurely.

"I salvaged you… Or whatever this body is, from the remains of the Angel that attacked us yesterday." At hearing the name, the woman blushed.

"You… You think I'm an Angel?" The blonde asked, with a smile. Shinji gave a confused stare.

"Uh, no. I'm pretty sure I _know_ you're an Angel." He clarified, making "Sachiel's" blush intensify.

"Well… All I remember is being told to find something nearby here, and being sent on my way." She mentioned, asking for another pitcher of water, which Shinji brought.

"By who?"

"The… Ah, damn… I can't remember her name. I think… She might have been… It was… She called herself the "something-of-all"…" Sachiel mentioned. Shinji nodded his head and sighed as he leant back in his chair further.

"The mother of all?" The boy clarified, and the woman brightened at the skerrick of information.

"Yes! Adam! She told me to seek something here, though I don't know what it was…"

"And I don't think I'm at liberty to tell you, either. Sorry." Shinji said with a small chuckle. The woman nodded with a small smile of her own.

"You were the one that attacked me, yes?" Sachiel inquired with the boy, who nodded.

"I apologise for the aggressiveness of my attacks." He said quietly, his head facing downwards. The woman nodded to him and sighed.

"It is alright, Shinji. In the end, you showed me mercy. For that, I am grateful." Another small smile graced her lips. The Third Child said a small thanks.

"Listen… How were you able to… Be like this?" He asked, referring to her transition to human form from Angelic titan.

"You mean this human body?"

"Yes."

"I exist in one form or the other. When I am attacked, injured parts of my body are absorbed and retreated back into my core. Their matter is condensed and converted into a human-looking equivalent. When the last of my energy is expended, I finally retreat fully into the core." Sachiel explained, pointing to the soft, quickly fading scars on her arms, which Shinji's Progressive Knife cut into.

"So there comes a point where if I do enough damage, your soul retreats, as well?" The pilot wanted to clarify the information completely, as he was stuck sick, thinking on it all.

"That is correct." Sachiel confirmed with a nod. Shinji nodded back and sighed.

"I… Is that the same for every Angel?" He asked. Sachiel took a moment to think before answering.

"Why do you want to know, Shinji?"

"I… I want to make peace with the Angels." Confessed the boy reborn.

"Hm… If what you say is true… Then yes, that is a genetic construct that we've evolved into. However, we adapt greatly in combat situations. It is likely that this theory will not hold true the longer we fight." Sachiel confided in the boy, who took in her words carefully.

"I understand… Thank you, very much." The teen thanked her with a large, beaming smile. A small blush graced her face. Shinji turned on his heel to leave, but stopped himself as another question cropped up in his mind.

"Um… Another thing – how are you able to… Comprehend human speech? Especially Japanese?" He asked.

"I've had quite some time to observe in my dormancy. Even in embryo, I was able to note your species' speech patterns and customs." Explained Sachiel. Shinji nodded once more, and thanked her once more.

"Though I will admit, there are still some rituals that still puzzle me." She added, making the boy chuckle again.

"You remind me of an old friend." He mumbled, and with that, he said his goodbyes to the Angel in human form, leaving her to the care of NERV medical staff for the moment. The Angel's stare lingered on him, and she quelled another blush.

(Some time later)

It was now time to meet with the illustrious Gendo Ikari, Commander of NERV. Shinji arrived a few minutes earlier, catching a ride with Misato.

2 minutes passed before Gendo appeared to Shinji's side, staring forlornly at Yui's grave. Heavy silence fell between the father and son, before the latter spoke up.

"No Section 2 guards following us?" Asked Shinji. Despite their clever cover-up, there were bound to be some lone, tagging agents that found them both.

"No, they've given us some space out of respect." Gendo replied. His son nodded, and brought out a note, similar to the one he'd given Misato.

"Here's everything I know about the upcoming Angels. I know just about everything but their names." The boy noted, as his father read the note several times over, before pulling out a lighter and burning it swiftly.

"Do you have any plans of attack?" The Commander asked.

"Combat? Or…"

"Both, if you've got any." Gendo made clear with a light snigger. Shinji sighed, and brought out a small diary he kept on his person. He flipped through his own notes, and found the section he was looking for.

"Hm… Here we go; Merging, or absorbing the Jet Alone project." Was his first suggestion.

"The JA? The nuclear powered Evangelion rip-offs?"

"Precisely. With NERV's possible upgrades and merging with their firepower, we could easily overpower any Angel that we can't make contact with. Plus with their possible inclusion within the city's defence system, we could buy more time for evacuations, or repel an attack before it even happens." Was Shinji's reasoning. He cleared his throat.

"…I see your point. I will look into merging. Though our funding will be crippled if that fails, Shinji." He warned, and seeing a large smirk appear on the child's face, he cursed to himself.

"Marketing the Evangelions & Angels. Sell them as toys, and after a while, sell the combat videos everywhere." Suggested Shinji, knowing full well that kids and nerds like Kensuke would eat that crap up easily.

"That'd be in bad taste, wouldn't it?" The Commander checked. The Third Child shook his head.

"Not if you're justifying it by saving the world, Commander. And that's a secondary source of income that NERV can't lose."

"Fair enough. I'll let Kozo take that on. I'm sure he'll be the first to collect all the figurines, anyway." Gnedo said with a chuckle, hearing a small titter coming from his son at the comment, as well.

"Alright… You should abort all possible tests on salvaging the Angel cores." With that, Gendo's curiosity peaked.

"Why?"

"In my previous lifetime, an attempt at fitting an Angel's S2 engine within an Evangelion failed miserably."

"Miserably." Gendo repeated, wanting his son to elaborate.

"Whatever they did ripped a hole in the universe. A Dirac Sea was created, and their entire facility was absorbed within negative space." Shinji explained, having attained the information from overhearing Kaji and the other Gendo's conversations.

"…Shit. Is there a work-around for that, then? We need the Evas to be able to operate for long periods of time without their umbilical tethers." The man asked. Shinji nodded.

"Consuming an Angel's core during battle. Or just consuming the Angel. Or, even better – using whatever nuclear engines the Jet Alone project might be working on." The boy suggested. Gendo felt taken aback by the notion.

"Eating an Angel? That's what you were doing?" He confirmed with his son, who retched at the thought.

"Y-yup. I did the same in the other lifetime, and Eva 01 grew a S2 organ from the parts it had eaten." The boy notified, and Gendo nodded.

"Damn. How long did it take to fully grow?"

"A few weeks. I assume Eva 01's core in this lifetime will grow a little bit faster, as I was able to… consume more of an Angel." Gendo went silent at the new information.

"Could… Hm… Could we grow more S2 organs?"

"Harvest them, you mean?"

"Yes."

"I'm not sure… I wouldn't like it, but I could at least try consuming more than one Angel. Maybe with the extra matter, Eva 01 could grow more…"

"If it's not too much trouble…"

"It's a fucking mountain of trouble, Commander. I taste every bit of blood and flesh that goes into the Eva's mouth. When I'm done, I feel full. I feel full of gooey, meaty Angel bits." Shinji explained to his father, shaking his head and fighting the urge to vomit.

"I'll try, though." He said. Gendo nodded.

"Thank you very much, Shinji." His father said with a large smile, holding his sons' shoulder.

"I have another suggestion – you could probably encourage Rei to get out more, and to make friends."

"Alright…"

"She trusts you, Commander, and you don't want to betray her trust if you want us to survive, or if you want to see mother again." Shinji reasoned.

Gendo sighed and let his head hang low.

"I understand, Shinji."

"There's also the matter of salvaging the remainder of a soul within Eva Unit 02." Shinji mentioned. Gendo stiffened at the comment and cleared his throat.

"And?"

"Stick with what you've got. Asuka's mother, the soul inside Eva Unit 02… Just don't add the remainder. Things will only end badly." Shinji warned his father, referring to the incident that lead to Asuka's mental corruption and eventual downfall.

"…Understood. I'll send the executive command to call it off, then." Gendo said, squeezing his son's shoulder lightly.

"That's all for now, Commander. I'll notify you if I have any more suggestions." Shinji left his father with a heavy sigh. A chopper came to pick his father up, and Gendo called out to his son.

"Shinji!" And the boy returned.

"Would you like to have lunch with me? It's my treat." The Commander offered, taking his glasses off. Shinji smiled and nodded, ignoring his grumbling stomach.

"I'd like that."

(A few weeks later…)

The next several days went quite like the same. A few tests at NERV, some interspersed discussions with the Commander, and quite a few meetings with Rei and the Angelic human, Sachiel. Shinji had also investigated new furniture, and the prices of renting out his neighbouring apartments.

Every now and then, he'd still comfort the hurting Operations Director, and despite his own inner turmoil, he couldn't help but love the new happiness the good Captain seemed to exude.

After about 6 days, Misato gave Shinji some notes on buying his new car, and the boy took them to heart with a smirk.

A few days after that, Sachiel was given residence within Misato and Shinji's apartment, enrolled at school, and employed at NERV as a potential pilot / test subject. She took the room Shinji was forced into when Asuka arrived, even after being offered the "better" room.

Despite her clear wealth of knowledge, the higher command of NERV felt it necessary to at least attempt a cover up on Sachiel's true identity. Sending her to school had the added benefit of letting the Angel learn more human customs.

For now, they had her allegiance to their side, and she was an invaluable resource, in terms of understanding what made the rest of the Angels tick.

Some time passed before Rei started to talk to Shinji of her own volition, eventually displaying some her interests, and, much to the young man's enjoyment, some emotions. She actually healed up better than she had in the previous lifetime, and her young friend was quick to note this.

It wasn't long during this time that Shinji appeared at school, having been fully healed of the internal bleeding and nerve damage sustained from fighting Sachiel in her Angelic form…

(…)

The young teen awoke in a slur, and checked the date on his phone.

The next Angel, the insect-like Fourth Angel would appear today, at the end of school. He remembered it's method of attack, wrapping and penetrating armour with its glowing tentacles…

He shook away memories of the pain, and mental damage he'd sustained after Shamshel's attack, and got ready for his day.

The daily household chore roster had become thus:

Shinji would cook, and wake everybody.

Misato would clean dishes.

Pen-Pen would keep up team morale.

And for the moment, Sachiel would keep the floors clean.

Thus, after showering, the young boy prepared breakfast and lunch for the four of them with a small yawn. And before he and Sachiel left for school, Misato yanked on his collar and dragged him back.

She lightly kissed him on the lips, broke as quicly as she could, and hugged him tightly to herself.

"Misa-"

"Shh! Just my way of saying… Thanks, Shinji." She then let the boy go on his way to school, fully aware of what her job was today. Blushing like a mad man, Shinji eventually appeared for his first day at school.

He smiled at the smell of rain that would surely be coming later that day. Then, he grimaced at this day marking his first meeting with Toji. His head down low, he thought on how he could best approach the boy when he met him.

' _Better… Hm… Trying to keep things the same as last time might work… It did show Toji and Kensuke that piloting isn't easy, and if they'd ever want to pilot their own Eva, it might strengthen or remove their resolve completely…'_ So that was what Shinji's plan was. Play things the same way, or as much as he possibly could as last time. His walking companion noticed his troubled look on their way to school.

"Shinji?"

"Hm? Yeah, Sachiel?"

"Are you alright? You seem to be deep in thought." A few days into their friendship, Shinji eventually confessed to her his predicament. She took it rather well, all things considering.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm just thinking on what I'm going to do today. Have you put any thought on what your plans are?" The pilot answered. The blonde Angel turned to her own thoughts for several, long, silent minutes.

"…I will attempt telepathic contact. If that fails, I assume you and Rei will be there to combat it. Repeat the process of what you did before, if that's the case." She noted to the human boy, who nodded.

"Are… Are you sure you're okay with doing this? I mean, not many people would be willing to help someone combat their own siblings…" Shinji asked the Angelic woman. She went silent again, and sighed, looking around at the world around herself.

"The more time I spend in this form, interacting with humans… The more I'm convinced that we should be living in peace, like you've suggested, Shinji. If combat is what it takes… If even one of both races are still standing after this, then I will be happy." Sachiel answered him, with a beaming smile.

"I'm glad you're with me, now." He mumbled, making her blush. Despite the ridiculousness of the situation, he was glad at how much better things were going for him.

"As am I, Shinji. As am I…" She responded, her grin growing as she looked on at the red-faced teen.

(Some time later)

"Hi! I'm Class 2A's rep…" Shinji nodded and smiled as he drowned out Hikari Horaki's introductory speech. Even just seeing the somewhat annoying girl was settling his nerves.

"Come in, say hi to the class…" The brunette ordered him, and as soon as Shinji stepped foot into the classroom, he could sense the world itself unravelling. His eyes caught sight of Kensuke and Toji's seats, but what he found…

What he found was beyond words.

He came in the room with a small smile, and greeted and waved to the small class, but before he could open his mouth to form words, he stared dumbly, for the longest time, at…

He couldn't say it.

"Geez… Another dude. I bet he's gonna bounce out of here in a week." The muscly, beautiful woman boasted to her comparatively nerdy friend, who snorted in response.

"Pfft, that's a bet I'd like to take you up on." The other…

"St- Stooges?" Shinji asked himself, before feeling bile come up at the back of his throat. He rushed to the male bathrooms, and emptied the contents of his stomach within one of the toilets. The Third Child crouched over, holding his aching head.

"Shinji? Are you alright?" Sachiel asked him, from outside the bathrooms. The boy screamed, as loud as he'd ever screamed. It was louder than when Asuka was murdered, when he'd been impaled by an Angel.

"THEY'RE GIRLS! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS FUTURE!?" He yelled to the Angel, who was taken aback.

"What? You mean Toji and Kensuke?"

"YES!"

"They were men in your lifetime?"

"YES!"

"Come outside, Shinji! I will comfort you." Sachiel called out. After a few minutes, she could hear a faucet running, and when the door to the men's bathroom opened, she saw a crying, dishevelled Shinji.

"Why are you so upset?" She asked him. He wiped away his tears, and settled his stomach. Sachiel then wrapped him in her arms as he stared into space behind her.

"…Toji… Kensuke… They're both women, Sachiel."

"And why does that shock you?"

"It… It just does… It's unnatural…"

"It's natural in this world, Shinji."

"…" For a few long moments of silence, Shinji just stood, shaking in the Angelic girl's arms. He shook his head of those disturbing thoughts that crept up on his mind, and slowly walked back to class with his companion.

"I apologise for that. My name is Shinji Ikari, it's nice to meet you all." He said, obviously faking a smile and bowing to his class.

Said class went on, and on, and on, with Shinji spacing out more often than he would've liked. He eventually turned to his computer when he noticed a familiar message pop up.

"Hey! – Are you the pilot?"

Shinji replied with a yes, and braced himself for all the questions he received just as the message sent. He could hear Rei and Sachiel's titters at his misfortune.

The class bell rang, and Shinji barely managed to dodge a king hit to his skull as he stepped foot out of the school building. He twirled around and suppressed more vomit at seeing the… female Toji with the female Kensuke.

It wasn't that she wasn't attractive, no. It was that she _was_ attractive. The thought of it all made Shinji's poor mind implode at the cosmic thought of gender reassignment.

"Grr… You were in that robot that hurt my sister!" With that, another punch was thrown at Shinji, but he did nothing to avoid it. The force of the hit staggered him, but, he was stronger and bigger in this lifetime – he wouldn't be going down easily.

"I was. I'm sorry that she got hurt, but she should've been evacuate-" With that, Toji – assuming that was her name in this timeline – threw another, heavy punch at Shinji's jaw, which he caught.

"Shut up! You don't know what happened!" Shinji's anger grew at this statement.

"What was she doing so close to the goddamn Angel then, huh?" He pushed Toji back roughly, and she growled at him, filled with a rightfully vindictive rage.

"You… ASSHOLE! Because of you, Sakura can't walk anymore! Pops and grandpa can't visit her because they're stuck paying for her fucking medical bills! AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO SHOW OFF IN A NEW GODDAMN TOY!" She accentuated her words with successive strikes to Shinji's body, the boy only blocking her attacks. After she was done, panting and angry, Shinji stared at her with unbridled rage, still standing, even after her assault.

"If that's what you want to think, then fine." He spat out some blood, thoroughly disgusting the shrinking Kensuke who stood behind her friend.

"I hope you come to realise that maybe you've taken this out on the wrong entity." Shinji commented, as he left in a flourish. Sachiel and Rei met him as he turned the corner, and he nodded to them without saying a word.

"I know. Let's report in." He said.

Then the alarms began to blare. The city began to retract into its underground receptacle.

(Some time later)

The three of them reported into NERV HQ, and, at the behest of the Operations Director, were split up. Rei was still recuperating, but was on emergency standby. Sachiel reported down to the Commander's office, where she'd be monitored by Kozo and Ritsuko as she attempted contact with this next Angel.

Shinji, in this case, like last time, was fighting against the Fourth Angel. He knew what strategies worked, and until he could mould his AT Field to pierce at his whim, he wouldn't use the Pallet Rifle recommended by NERV HQ.

As he sunk his mind deeper within the LCL, he reached out to the resident souls of the Eva Unit.

' _I mustn't run away.'_ He repeated to himself, despite all the combat experience he had, and despite every promise he made.

'… _Shin… ji…'_ Another spike in the boy's Sync Ratio occurred, and he had to stop his heart from beating so fast.

' _M-mother?'_

' _Shinji!'_ Another, different voice called to him.

"Eva Launch!"

(NERV HQ)

"Sync Rate's rising… Capping at 100%!" Makoto Hyuga called out, already bringing up a video screen of Shinji's Entry Plug, to satisfy Misato's command.

"How did he sustain those bruises?" The Captain asked, jumping as Rei appeared to her left.

"A fight in school, Captain." The clone reported, with a grimace. Misato groaned, rubbing her face roughly.

"It's his first day!" She moaned loudly, making the three head technicians stare at the Operations Director oddly.

"Ah… Screw it. Shinji! Refrain from combat for the moment!" Came the Captain's order. Shinji nodded curtly, knowing of Sachiel's plan to contact her sibling. He breathed heavily as he was shot up into the city, providing a show for some unknowing onlookers.

(…)

"Begin contact please, Sachiel." Ritsuko ordered the Angel-turned-human. Kozo shook his head at his forced supervision, eyeing the girl as if she were a ticking time bomb.

' _This is ridiculous. I can't believe we're housing a damned Angel… Even if the Commander does say she's "inert"… She still poses a threat to us…'_ Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki thought bitterly, his hand continuously hovering over his sidearm.

Sachiel confirmed the doctor's orders, and closed her eyes, reaching into her subconscious. Be they in human or in their Angelic forms, the Angels could network to each other through telepathic contact.

Being beings of light, this wasn't too hard, even for the now-human Sachiel, whose body went limp.

(…)

' _Hello? Shamshel?'_

' _Sha…'_

' _Listen to me! You don't need to follow the words of the mother-of-all! Adam only seeks destruction!'_

' _Sha…'_

' _If you fight, he will hurt you.'_

' _Sha…?'_

' _They… They are my friends. Their world shouldn't be destroyed due to our creator's mistakes!'_

' _Sha… SHA!'_

(…)

"Sach- What's wrong!?" Ritsuko yelled as the Angelic girl's human body seized violently, before waking. She clutched her head tightly and groaned, with fresh tears appearing in her eyes.

"Sachiel? Sachiel!"

"What's wrong, Angel?" Kozo asked cautiously, his hand ready to draw and fire if needed.

"Uhhnn… Alert Shinji – the Angel penetrated my mind, and got access to our combat data… It'll adapt in combat… Much faster than we thought!" Sachiel warned, before passing out.

"Shit! Are you able to relay that, Sub Commander?" The doctor asked, easily slinging the lightweight girl over her shoulder. Kozo nodded, and called in the report to Misato, who relayed it to Shinji indirectly.

(…)

"Come on, Tojiko, I've been dying to see a battle – just one!" Kensuki asked her characteristically "jock-like" friend, who grumbled and scrambled up from her lying position. Tojiko dragged the nerdy Kensuki to their class representative, Hikari.

"Hey, class rep?"

"What is it, Suzuhara?" Hikari answered with a grunt.

"We gotta go to the bathroom."

"Well you should've gone before the city was put into lockdown!"

"D'aww, come on, Horaki! Just let us out for a little bit. We'll be back before you know it!"

Eventually, they were let out.

The two of them had snuck out of the school, and had made their way to a small hill for some good "vantage shots", as Kensuki had put it. It was then they saw the might of the Angel, and it's apparently one-sided clash with the Evangelion.

(…)

"Agh! God damn it!" Shinji yelled as the Angel quickly threw him backwards, sending the colossal organic construct skidding into a mountainside.

' _Stupid thing's already disengaged its flying form…'_

"Shinji! That thing's shared memories with the previous Angel! It can predict your moves!" Misato notified him, and he barely snarled out a response.

"Thanks for the update!" He bit back at her, gathering his strength for one final charge. He then recognised where he was.

' _Fuck. And history repeats itself in horrifying ways.'_ He thought bitterly, backing against the mountain, intent on not wasting any reserve power he had left after having his umbilical cord severed.

Although his S2 organ had appeared, it was still only growing, and would likely be destroyed if he attempted to overload it. It did safely double his operating time, however.

(…)

"What the hell… WHAT ARE THOSE TWO STUDENTS DOING OUT THERE!?" Misato yelled, noticing as the cameras identified the two schoolgirls crouching as they filmed Eva Unit 01.

"They're from Class 2A, ma'am." Maya reported, after the video feed programs detected the two student's identities.

"Shinji! Two of your classmates are-"

"I know, Misato! I'll pick them up now!" Shinji yelled to her, disengaging his Entry Plug, and opening the hatch.

"Captain, I advise against that. It could cause mental feedback within the Eva Unit." Said Maya, remembering the knowledge the blonde doctor had imparted upon her. Misato shook her head, and pulled her headset off.

"I realise, Lieutenant. But I trust that our pilot can work past the noise those two will generate." Misato heeded. Maya went back to her work, as did the rest of the technicians on the bridge.

(…)

"Get in!" Shinji yelled through the darkness of his cockpit, as an order to Tojiko and Kensuki. They scrambled in, and he stifled a laugh as the military buff whined at the damage to her camera.

They slid down the tube, and Shinji reinserted himself within the spine of Eva 01, the beast whirring to life. The visuals within the Plug came to life with the image of the charging Fourth Angel, it's whips of light flaring, intent on piercing the Evangelion.

"Move! It's gonna stab you!" Tojiko yelled to the Third Child. Shinji drowned out both her and Kensuki's thoughts, and willed the roaring cyborg to life. The Angel drove it's tentacle just shy to the right of Eva 01's head, and Shinji ducked out of the way of the other, which reached to pierce his core.

Struggling to withdraw its appendages, the Fourth Angel was unable to counter effectively as Eva 01 launched a quick series of punches, all aiming to tenderise the alien beast for easier consumption. The Angel finally brought a light whip back, and lashed it towards Eva 01's shoulder.

As the beast warped it's AT Field to disrupt and destroy the Evangelion's nerve centre, it sent it's other, freed limb to stab at the unprotected titan's chest. Shinji willed Eva 01 to grab the tentacle before it could impale him, but the noise within the Plug combined with the nerve damage the other tentacle was doing to him halted him from doing so.

He could feel his own organs take the impact of the stab, and he screamed.

(…)

"Eva Unit 01 has sustained minor damage – but it's already entering another pre-berserk state!" Makoto Hyuga yelled, already seriously concerned about the Third Child's mental wellbeing.

Piloting the Evangelions already defiled the poor children's brains. Getting injured, and going berserk in the damn things was like drinking a week's worth of shots in just a night. The amount of mental destruction sustained would kill the kid before their time.

Misato's eyes stuck to Shinji's screen, and absolute fear shot through her as something took over Shinji. His eyes went green again, like that of Eva Unit 01's, and the two students behind him gazed on in shock.

"Captain, what are your orders?" Ritsuko asked her friend, having appeared to the side of her that wasn't occupied by the horrified Rei.

"…Rei, get suited up, and get into the Entry Plug. We'll have you on standby in case anything goes wrong." The Operations Director ordered quietly. Rei nodded and wasted no time. The doctor shook her head.

"Things have already gone wrong, Misato. The fact that that Angel isn't dead yet is evidence of that."

"I know."

(…)

Shinji and the Eva, acting as one roared and latched on to the annoying purple tentacles, and began moulding their AT Field. The will of Shinji, and the berserk strength of his semi-organic behemoth together created a strong Field, strong enough to neutralise, and even partially reverse the effect of the Fourth Angel's electric attack.

After thoroughly shocking the Angel, Shinji used his leverage to twist the alien invader around on one arm, and ripped the limb off with much more strength than necessary, tearing a good chunk of the black Angel's shoulder off along with it.

It screeched out in pain, and lashed the remaining tentacle out with half of its complete strength, using the other half to regenerate the lost limb. It successfully impaled Shinji again, and the boy's world froze.

His vision went red, and he wanted blood. He wanted to tear apart the thing that was hurting him, and he wanted to taste its flesh on his tongue.

Another ear-splitting growl resounded through the mountains of Tokyo-3.

(…)

"Shinji's sustaining major nerve damage and internal bruising, Captain." Maya called out, feeling a little bit uncomfortable with the good doctor Akagi peering over her shoulder.

"That thing's already dead. It can't fight back anymore." Misato said.

"…Affirmative, Captain."

"Prepare a space in the emergency ward." The Captain ordered, with a sigh.

"Affirmative, Captain."

(…)

Tojiko and Kensuki witnessed on in horror as they could see the mutilation Shinji took on. Tears flew and dissolved within his the LCL, and Shinji's screams filled the metal tank.

' _God damn… How is he still conscious? This pain would've already made someone pass out…'_ Kensuki thought, not even knowing what her friend was thinking as the young teen took the injuries for the sake of the world.

He tore into Shamshel, and consumed every piece of flesh, regenerating or not, as fast as he could. The Evangelion's teeth gnashed and crushed every piece of matter resembling meat or bone, and after only a few minutes, the Angel Shamshel was nothing but a blood red core on the ground.

Shinji panted, and his sanity returned. He couldn't hide the fact from anyone at this point – with the bridge technicians looking on through cameras set up within Tokyo-3, and his classmates looking on within the Entry Plug, everyone could see what the Angel's core contained.

As with Sachiel, it was a girl, about the same age as Shinji, but she had short, purple hair.

Some minutes passed, with Shinji staring at the core, with tears in his eyes. He grunted, and threw his head back in his chair.

"FUCK!" He grunted in pain, gently cupping his hands around the "wounds" he endured. More minutes passed, and he drew his Progressive Knife from its holster.

"Wait… What are you doing?" Tojiko asked him worriedly, not getting an answer. His eye colour had returned, meaning that he had regained control of the Eva, but this did not sate the jock's fear.

He drove the vibrating knife into the core carefully, neutralising the organic construct's AT Field.

He ate one piece of the core, unknowingly beginning the growth of a second S2 organ within Eva 01's body. He plucked out the Angel from its core, as he did with Sachiel.

"Misato, Ritsuko! We need another spot prepped in the medical wing!" Using the last of his remaining consciousness, he safely transported the new Angel to NERV, despite the protest of many staff members.

(Some time later)

A week had passed since that incident. The Fourth Angel, later identified as Shamshel by Sachiel, was still recuperating from the violent battle. Misato had chewed the ever-loving _shit_ out of Kensuki and Tojiko, much to Rei's silent enjoyment.

Shinji had spent two days in NERV hospital, and the remainder of the week at home, in recovery.

Tojiko was still meandering in her own self-turmoil. Despite Kensuki's remarks, she couldn't shake the pangs of guilt that shot through her every time she thought of the pilot of Eva 01. She sat, head down on desk, pretending to sleep.

Even the pitter-patter of heavy rain and the drabbling of her teacher couldn't lull her to sleep.

"Listen, if you're that sorry about it, just go visit him." Kensuki suggested, knowing exactly what Tojiko was moping about, typing away on her computer. The jock shifted her head to face away from her friend.

"And where do I find out where he lives, dingus?" She retorted, languidly. Kensuki snorted.

"Just ask his roommate. She's literally right there." Kensuki pointed out, to the spaced out, annoyed Angel. Tojiko swallowed her pride, and got the information from Sachiel, who smiled at the jock as she left.

"The reconciliation is good." Rei commented, sitting behind the blonde Angel.

"Mm-hmm. It'll help him heal up, knowing he's got a new friend out here."

And when school ended, Tojiko raced on ahead of anyone else who might've been visiting the boy, simply because she didn't want anyone to see her admitting guilt. She batted her eyes and cursed at the rain, but eventually made her way to the young boy's spiff-looking apartment.

(…)

Shinji lazed on his couch, half-asleep. He was woken up as the lovable penguin Pen-Pen brought him a random assortment of snacks and drinks.

"You're a goddamn saint, Pen-Pen." Shinji thanked the animal, who squawked in appreciation. He scratched its head and lied back down, covering himself up with a small sheet as he dozed off.

A small knock at his door resounded through his apartment, thoroughly waking him up.

"Ikari? You in there?" She asked. The boy groaned, and Pen-Pen returned to his side.

"It's fine, let her in, boy."

And so the penguin did, opening the door to the large apartment.

Tojiko stared down at the odd pet, and both parties tilted their heads.

"Come in, Toji, it's fine." He called her by the name she/he had in his previous lifetime, hoping she'd think that he was just using a nickname.

Said jock shivered at the nickname, and repressed her disgust.

"Hey, Ikari… I just wanted to…" Damn this was hard. She walked around to face the lying boy, and could help but notice the muscle tone in his uncovered arms.

"It's fine, trust me." Shinji told her, adjusting himself. She sighed and shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realise what kind of… What kind of pain that thing puts you through. And Katsuragi showed me the footage of your first battle." Tojiko's throat threatened to seize up in guilt. Shinji sat up with a sharp wince, and let the sheet covering his chest fall.

It was then she witnessed the full wrath of an Angel's assault. Thanks to the high sync ratio, Shinji had better control over his Eva. The downside with such a rate translated to him feeling 100% of the pain the Unit felt.

And, in some major cases, it caused vicious, dark bruises to appear where he was attacked, along with the usual nerve damage and brain deterioration.

"Fucking hell!" Tojiko yelled as she saw them, and Shinji let out a chuckle.

"I'm just surprised you didn't get these too." He admitted.

"How's your sister doing?"

"She's… She's recovering. Pops got some time off to check in on her, and that's made her happier. Sakura's… also pretty pissed at me for wailing on you."

"Tell her it's okay, To- …Tojiko. I forgive you, alright?"

"Yeah… Thanks… I guess it just took a twin's encouragement to get me to realise how stupid I've been, right?" She said, stifling a flush at Shinji's small laugh. Tojiko also purposefully ignored the memory of witnessing a fellow classmate being subject to what was basically hyper-torture.

Shinji's laugh stopped as a realisation hit him.

"Wait… Did you say twin?"

"Huh? Yeah. Sakura's my twin."

"Twin sister."

"Yes, Ikari, what's the big deal?"

The future was still changing. It appeared that nothing, not one thing, not a single piece of refuge was safe in this world. Everything everywhere was different, even if they were just in small ways.

Shinji smacked his head back down on his pillow, and buried his face in the palms of his hands.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck."

* * *

A/N: To the person who inspired me to write this: "You like thet? You like thet, baby?"


	3. The Thunder

A/N: Someone asked for character comparisons for the female Angels.

Sachiel (3rd Angel) – Himiko from "Btooom!"

Shamshel (4th Angel) - Laki Olietta from "Fairy Tail".

Ramiel (5th Angel) - Sumika Inaba from "K".

This chapter hasn't yet been edited, but I'm getting it out for now… For reasons. I'll likely update this chapter within the week.

* * *

Shinji stirred awake, feeling a heavy pressure on his arms. Cradled safely was the drooling, asleep Rei. He cracked his eyes open and blinked the sleep away from them. Crooking his head, he saw that it was the same day, very late in the afternoon.

Heavy rain still poured, much to the boy's delight.

He could hear Ritsuko and Misato quietly discussing something at the kitchen table, and the Angel Sachiel, in her human form, was sitting in a lounge, watching a TV program. After trying to shift the arm that Rei had hugged tightly to herself, he found that all sensation was cut off from it.

Sachiel saw Shinji stir, and smiled.

"Good afternoon, Shinji."

"Good afternoon, Sachiel… Why is Rei sleeping with me right now?" He asked, eliciting childish giggles from the Doctor and the Captain. The teenager sighed with utter disbelief at the two "adults".

"You know what I meant!" He yelled, softly.

"We came here, and passed by Tojiko on the way out." Sachiel began to explain, pausing when Shinji grimaced at the name of the "girl".

"She said that you two patched things up, and me and Rei went on in. She made a face that… I don't quite know, actually. It was like that of longing, I suppose…" Sachiel went on and lost herself in the meaning of the action, eliciting yet more titters and such from the two NERV staff.

"Shut it, you two! I swear to god… I'm sorry, Sachiel. Please continue."

"And she just sort of… Climbed onto the couch with you. After making physical contact, she went into deep sleep." Sachiel explained as she stared on at the cutely cuddling Rei.

"Huh."

"Yes, it's quite odd. It seems Rei can only achieve REM sleep when she's near you, Shinji." Ritsuko mentioned quietly, having a sip of her coffee.

"Why is that?" At all the stirring, Rei shifted herself so that she faced Shinji. She then wrapped her arms around the boy ever-so-tightly, before burying her face in his firm chest. The poor teen blushed uncontrollably, thankfully away from the sight of Ritsuko and Misato.

"Professionally… I have no idea. If I had to theorise, I'd say that you've got something that she doesn't."

"Really, that's very helpful, Ritsuko." Shinji mumbled, trying to quell his arousal at the nuzzling, bubbly Rei.

"What could Rei be lacking, doctor?" Asked the Angel. Ritsuko slunk back in her chair, ignoring the small growl that came from her stomach. She eyed her long-time friend, and stared back at the floor of the apartment.

"Well… I really shouldn't be telling you guys this, but it may help you understand. Rei is… Rei is not normal."

"We already knew that!" Misato acted indignantly. She knew of Rei's secret, thanks to her time-travelling charge. But what the rest of the group wanted to know was why she slept so easily next to Shinji.

Ritsuko averted her gaze away from even Pen-Pen.

"I can't tell you where Rei came from, but I can say that… Maybe Shinji reminds Rei of someone close to her." The doctor praised herself for such an inventive lie. They could take that statement any way they wanted – perhaps Rei had an old boyfriend from before arriving to Tokyo-3, who knew?

Well, Misato could've… But by the time her brain would've made the connection, she would've forgotten about this conversation entirely.

"Huh." Shinji repeated himself.

Sometime later, with Sachiel's help, Shinji slinked out of the clone's grasp and began to prepare dinner. After only 2 minutes, the First Child awoke. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and smiled a truly happy smile as she stared at the Third Child.

"Good afternoon, everyone." She greeted with… mirth? Yeah, no, it was mirth in her voice. Ritsuko actively suppressed a dumb grin as Rei woke up. Misato, however, couldn't help but stare on in sheer disbelief.

"Good afternoon, Rei." Sachiel greeted.

"Morning, sleepyhead." Doctor Akagi greeted.

Some minutes passed, and the smell of the pilot's cooking permeated through the room, making the doctor's stomach growl loudly. The clone stretched her arms high above her head and sighed with relief.

She rested her head on the backing of the couch, peeking over to the two NERV staff, particularly, Misato. As Shinji served their food up, the Operations Director couldn't help but squirm under her stare.

"Uh – do you need something, Rei?" She asked. The clone snapped out of her trance and yawned, smiling lovingly at Shinji as he handed her a lovely meal.

"I was just wondering, Miss Katsuragi…"

"Please, Rei – "Misato" is just fine."

"Am I able to move in? I quite like it here." She admitted, not without one more lingering stare at the Third Child. At hearing this, Misato buried her face in her hands, weeping silently. Ritsuko just smiled at her friends suffering and sighed happily.

"My, that sounds like a fantastic idea, Rei!" Ritsuko said, mainly to tease Misato.

"We don't even have enough rooms!" Whined her friend.

"That will be fine. I am able to share a room with Shinji."

"Out of the question!"

"Wait, what?" Sputtered the Third Child, with a mouthful of chicken soup. Rei just stared and smiled at him.

"We can't have two 16 year olds sharing a room! There'd be nothing stopping you two from…" At the mention of the possible, dirty, dirty things the two teens could be doing…

Misato couldn't control the redness rising to her cheeks.

"I wouldn't make love to Shinji without his permission." The Lilith clone swore, making Sachiel giggle quietly. Shinji slowly placed his spoon down on his table and stared deeply into Rei's eyes.

"…What?"

' _I… Oh God. Misato's predictions are coming true!'_

With a weary sigh, things were worked out. Rei was allowed to move in, on the condition that she'd refrain from trying to court Shinji. She was allowed to stay in his room, and even sleep in his bed, much to the First Child's suppressed glee.

Sachiel had to hide her jealousy at Rei's forwardness. Had her afternoon nap with Shinji removed some inhibitions? The Angel's cheeks reddened when the clone of Lilith mentioned something about "making love" to Shinji.

The Angel of the Water buried her face in some magazine to hide her blush effectively, and outwardly, she seethed. Sachiel did a quick analysis of herself.

' _Hm. I have feelings for Ikari, it seems… Unprecedented, but not unwelcomed. I shall court him in the manner accustom to humanity.'_ She thought to herself, with a small smile.

(Some time later…)

Ritsuko left, and the "team" in their apartment had an easy sleep. Rei spent one last night at her apartment, packing her things.

As his head hit his pillow, Shinji cried, muscles still roaring from his usual routine, plus the savage beating he took from Shamshel.

Tears fell from his eyes, but he smiled despite it all. The boy reborn draped a blanket over himself and cradled within the warmth.

Another, soft cry resounded from Misato's room.

The teenager sighed, and got up again.

(…)

The Operations Director shivered and chastised herself for being so caught up in the past.

She _had_ hated her father. The man put his work before his only child, and she despised him for it.

But when he sacrificed himself for her… The screams, the explosion… It was ingrained within her mind, despite her lucidness, and blood loss. She cradled her blanket closer to herself as the sobs continued, and sighed.

As if on cue, her saviour arrived. Instead of holding a look of worry or sadness, he smiled at her and approached her.

And instead of turning away so that she'd be able to face away from him and ignore the problems that had arisen, she hugged him tightly as he entered her bed.

"Shinji…" A small mumble could be heard through her sniffs.

"Yeah, Misato?"

"Thank you. Thank you for everything you've done for me…" Despite the weirdness of their situation, and despite the age difference that Ritsuko would endlessly point out, she felt love for Shinji. It was not motherly; she knew that no-one could replace the troubled teen's mother.

It wasn't like a sibling's love, either. The Captain had been much too physically attracted to the guy for them to be like brother and sister.

Without warning, she took his lips in a misguided, awkward kiss. She lingered on at the sensation for quite some time before Shinji had come to his senses and reciprocated the action.

The woman broke her lips from his and hugged him again.

"Shinji… Would you like to go on a date with me?" Her voice came so silently, almost at a whisper. Said pilot jumped at the question.

Well, hell. That wasn't something he was expecting – even with Misato's own warnings.

He analysed it from every angle he could. He _did_ like her, and he found her attractive. Those two things should've been enough for a "yes", right?

'… _What about Rei? I think she likes me, too… Or Sachiel…'_

"I… I don't know, Misato… You're a lovely woman, and any guy'd be lucky to have you… I just don't know if…"

"It's the others, isn't it?"

"Wh-what?" Did she catch on that quick? Or was she just a good observer?

"I've seen how Rei and the Angel look at you… And I know our little German sourpuss still holds a place in your heart, Shinji…" The Captain's voice became much clearer, and Shinji remained stunned.

"I-I-I what!?" He quietly yelled, unsure if he was outraged or not.

"You've got to heal people, Shinji. And to do that… More than one of them need a stable, romantic relationship." Misato reasoned.

"That's ridiculous! How could you know that?"

"Because I've been, and I am now a woman who needs a stable romantic relationship. It's the ultimate way for them to open up to trust. Maybe they'll get hurt… But with you, they'll learn to heal, as well."

"M-Misato, wouldn't be degrading to those girls if I'm with more than one of them at the same time?"

"It depends on what a woman considers degrading, Shinji." Misato warned him, sounding a little bit offended.

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Some… Some might be okay with it. You'll have some who are angry at the idea, but if they truly all want to be with you, then those who're against the idea… They won't care."

"…O- …Okay."

"So…"

"Hm? Oh-Sorry! I… I would like it if we could… go on a date, Misato." At his shy words, the Operations Director smiled to herself and gave Shinji another, small kiss on his lips.

"I'd like that, Shinji." And their night ended with Misato smothering the poor boy in her bosom.

(The next day…)

"Well… It isn't the most glamorous date, but I'm sure I can at least point a few things out for future outings!" Misato declared boisterously, as she and Shinji strolled through NERV headquarters for lunch.

"What kind of company won't let you have a Saturday off?" Shinji asked her, as they sat down at the HQ cafeteria. Misato puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms angrily.

"Jerks, Shinji. Jerks don't let you have a Saturday off…" Well, there _were_ those sick-days she'd used for shopping sprees… Damn Section 2 agents, catching her off guard…

And the two continued their "date", with the woman guiding the teen through it all. At the conclusion of said date, the two had to part. But before they did, Shinji drew Misato into a kiss of his own volition.

The woman smiled into the embrace and hugged him closely, deepening the kiss in the process of. This lasted for minutes, until a certain blonde bore witness to the event.

"MISATO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT BOY!?"

The purple-haired woman lingered on the kiss with Shinji until she was literally dragged off him by an enraged Ritsuko. The Third Child just stood stunned, and stared at the two. The Captain blew the teen a kiss before she was dragged into Ritsuko's office.

"Call me!" And with that, the door slammed shut behind her.

(…)

A quick trip to the titanic Eva Unit 01 followed. The Third Child made a quick walk past the engineering staff, and onto the scaffold where he could directly make contact with the body of Eva 01.

He felt a presence appear behind him, but paid no mind to it. The boy raised his hand and placed it on the flesh of the Evangelion, immediately feeling something.

It was a faint heartbeat. Shinji could definitely feel it, but for a being of its size, the speed of the beat was much too slow. He let go of his senses and did what he would normally do, as if he were piloting the Eva.

His body went stiff as his consciousness was linked to the Evangelion.

The boy couldn't feel like he usually would when piloting. The heartbeat of his Eva was clear, like a drumbeat to his ears. With his intrusion, the beat had quickened, only slightly.

He searched around the body of the unit, until he found an unnatural hum. 3 resonant tones played in his ears like jazzy chords.

' _Dissonant… But nice.'_

Perhaps Kaworu had the right idea in regards to the "music" of a person.

These three tones hummed close to the "heart" of the Evangelion, and mixed flawlessly with its beat.

The boy drew his hand towards the fleshy lumps, and could feel the energy surging within them. A massive one, followed by a smaller, and then one smaller than that.

' _These must be the new S2 Organs… But they're growing quickly. And they're causing a third one to form…'_ It was then he retreated his subconscious within his conscious.

As he left the body of the Evangelion, a faint voice called. It was too late to respond, as the pilot's vision sprawled back to life. He was limp on the floor, staring up at an almost careless looking Gendo.

"Are you alright, Third Child?" It was an act, Shinji believed. So that the Commander wouldn't look soft in front of his staff.

It was like he'd said before – there were no doubt ears and eyes everywhere.

"I'm fine, Commander." Shinji spat back, dully.

"That is optimal, then. Did your… Experiment harbour any results?"

"I'll tell you in the report, Commander…" Good lord, he hoped saying _that_ wasn't going to become a habit.

(…)

Despite the toll the test took on him, Shinji Ikari had one more "appointment" at NERV today. This had to be clandestine, and for varying reasons, no-one could know what he was doing. He snuck to Eva Unit 00's cages, during a break for the engineering staff.

Gathering up the majority of his strength and willpower, he delved into the gargantuan beast's mind, forming a faux-mind link with the Eva Unit. As his hand danced across the Eva's flesh, he could feel much rage within the beast, and it's heartbeat was much faster than Eva 01's.

Shinji was dragged into the Eva's subconscious, not by his own volition.

' _WHO ARE YOU!?'_

' _Calm down!'_

' _WHO ARE YOU!?'_ This was two voices – mashed together unevenly.

' _My name is Shinji! Shinji Ikari!'_ It was like his mind was being assaulted by mounds of white noise – blaring in his ears.

' _I… Kari? IKARI!?'_

' _Oh, fuck.'_

A roar sounded through the void he was trapped in, and he felt an impressive, blurred force slam into him. It was a mini materialisation of Eva Unit 00, and it looked _pissed_.

It slammed its fists into him, with the intent to end his life, or at least, his consciousness. Shinji retaliated the strikes effectively, but was still under assault from the miniaturised titan. Minutes of angered roars and white noise passed through the blackness of the expanse, before help came to the pilot.

Another being, which looked similar to Eva Unit 00, slammed into its copy. The Third Child had a moment to breathe and observe.

The faces of the two Eva units were warped, _almost_ beyond recognition. One appeared similar to Rei, in a merge of morphed flesh and robotic metal. The other… Looked like Doctor Akagi – but only a little.

Both faces held rage. Rage beyond what apparent humanity they held.

Fear gripped him as the two duelled roughly, each going for the other's vital points in an effort to kill. Minutes, possibly hours passed as they duelled, and the boy witnessed that they'd always be at a draw in the battle – nothing being accomplished.

He breathed deeply and steeled his resolve.

' _HEY!'_ At this, the two titans stopped momentarily, staring at him. The Rei-like Unit 00 had a small blush on her face, and the Ritsuko-doppelganger still had a burning hatred flaring through her eyes.

' _What the hell are you two doing?'_ Immediately calming himself, the two stared at each other, then back to Shinji.

' _Why are you fighting?'_

' _The old hag wrapped her hands around my throat and strangled the life out of me!'_

' _It was her fucking_ _ **pimp**_ _that abandoned me when it was the most useful thing to do! Ikari used me up and sent his doll to drive me over the edge!'_

A realisation hit Shinji. The Rei look-alike was a Rei clone.

The first, in fact.

And the other woman… She had to be Ritsuko's mother! The looks were too similar to be a coincidence, and it'd make sense if the family line worked for NERV, or whatever its predecessor was…

' _Slow down. Step away from each other.'_ His words rung out in the black abyss, and the two followed the commands cautiously.

' _Tell me, in as much detail as you can possibly can, what the hell happened. Miss Akagi, you go first.'_ The woman's eyes softened from hateful to disdainful.

And so, Naoko Akagi, as she introduced herself, explained her side of the story. After Shinji's mother was absorbed into the body of Eva Unit 01, she got into a relationship with his father.

The boy had to reign in his anger at hearing that.

Naoko continued that after Gendo developed a clone of Yui/Lilith, they eventually started seeing each other less and less, and that after some few choice words with the first Rei, she committed suicide.

Her last memory was entering the infinitely black reaches of the prototype Eva Unit.

Shinji took a moment to absorb the information.

' _Tell me what happened, Rei.'_

And so the clone went on, and told her side of the story. It seemed that upon entering Eva Unit 00, she had matured to the current Rei's age, perhaps even older.

' _She explains it well. I was fed up with the hag vying for the Commander's attention, so I told her how he and I felt about her.'_ A moment of silence followed the first Rei's words, where Naoko's seething stare could bore into Rei's head.

The two's bodies seemed to reform in the darkness of the realm they presided in, eventually developing into their previous forms.

' _She wrapped her hands around my neck and squeezed until I was no more. Then, my soul was gathered within here.'_

Shinji nodded.

' _So you two are the souls within Eva 00.'_

' _That's where we are? It seems that bastard Ikari still had his uses for me…'_

' _How unfortunate. You are not the usual intruder we receive, though. Who else routinely enters the unit?'_ Rei inquired.

' _The other person who pilots Eva 00 is the second clone of you. She's the second Rei, I believe.'_

' _Figures. Gendo wouldn't want our project's debut piloted by anyone but his doll.'_

' _You two need to stop that. This fighting in this realm seems harmless, but what you're doing might kill the world.'_

At that, both of them snorted grimly.

' _Oh please. We exist as nothing more but noise. What does our fighting do that's so harmful?'_ Naoko challenged. Shinji shook his head.

' _Your fighting, and these lashes affect the pilot. When you two squabble, the "beast" gets a chance to fight. And it fights out with nothing but both of your angers.'_

' _Wh… What?'_

' _Miss Akagi – the Evangelions act a little differently than you think. Everything within here affects the other Rei, and the beast outside.'_

' _So what? Gendo uses his dolls, and they die. Why should I care, Ikari!?'_ The former Chief Scientist defied the boy. His rage grew, and the memories of his past life filled the void within Eva Unit 00.

' _IF YOU TWO CONTINUE TO FUCKING FIGHT, YOU WILL RESOLVE NOTHING! THE PILOT OUTSIDE WILL LOSE CONTROL, AND THE WORLD WILL DIE!'_ He wasn't going to convince her like this, so the pilot calmed himself down and sighed, wearily.

' _Naoko – if you and Rei fight, Ritsuko will die. I know you care for her, because she's your fucking daughter! I've seen the future, and Ritsuko perishes without the full cooperation of the souls in this Eva!'_

' _You've… You've seen the future?'_ Naoko slumped down on the "floor" of their reality and wept at the boys words. She could see, both within his will, and within his stare, that he'd seen the horrors that were hinted at.

Shinji slowly stepped over, and comforted the weeping mother, crying his own tears. After some minutes, the indifferent Rei shook her head.

' _And tell me, Pilot Ikari – why should I care if the world dies? I'm already dead, and to end my suffering within here would be a godsend.'_ Shinji nodded.

' _You don't have to care for the world. But you do care for Gendo, yes?'_

' _No… No I do not. Not after what he did to me. Knowingly or not, he sentenced us both to darkness. However…'_ Remembrance hit her, and she blushed, before averting her gaze away from the Third Child.

'… _What?'_

' _I share memories with the Rei that pilots this machine. When she enters, I receive flashes of what she's experienced…'_ She smiled at Shinji, with a deep red blush. Naoko crossed her arms over her chest and scoffed at the two teens.

' _I will work with the Rei that pilots this machine, and… Miss Akagi… Only if you promise to find us a way out of this place.'_ She practically spat out the former scientist's name.

' _I don't care if you destroy this unit, or if we must assume another's body… You'll have my allegiance if you promise us this.'_

' _I'll… I will find a way to get you two out of here.'_ With this, the first Rei ran up to Shinji and smashed her lips into his, fumbling around awkwardly, but otherwise enjoying the sensation like nothing else. She quietly wept and broke from his lips.

' _Thank you.'_

' _Yeah… Thanks, Shinji.'_ Naoko muttered, silently thanking that Rei 1 had bargained such a deal for the both of them.

(…)

Again, Shinji had found himself on the grated floors of the Evangelion unit scaffolding. A small smirk appeared on his face, and he resolved what to do, in his mind.

The heartbeat of the Eva had slowed down considerably, and before any prying eyes could catch him, he snuck out of the engineering block.

(2 days later)

"She's exhibiting signs of increased mental activity. We had a brief flash of the same behaviour in you, before you awoke." Ritsuko explained to the overwatching sentinel that was Sachiel. She sat by her sisters side, and held her hand, like Shinji had done with her.

"She's fine, otherwise?"

"Yes. She'll likely be awake within the next two hours."

"Thank you, Doctor Akagi." Said Sachiel, with a small smile. Ritsuko shifted on her feet unevenly, as if she was about to leave the room. She fumbled around and pretended to re-check the comatose Angel's medical chart.

"Listen… Sachiel, was it?"

"Yes, Doctor Akagi?"

"What is her name?" The blonde asked, referring to the sleepily snoozing seraphim.

"Her name is Shamshel. She is the Angel of the Morning."

"Angel of the… What does that mean?"

"I don't know, myself. It's most likely a title, like Lord or Lady."

"How did you learn her name?" Ritsuko mentally recorded the information on her patient down.

"From the mental link we established when she invaded Tokyo-3. Like a title, it was presented to me as we met each other."

"Interesting. So what are you the Angel of?"

"I… Don't know. As embarrassing as it is, I believe only another Angel can tell me that." With that, the doctor suppressed a small giggle.

"I'm sorry, didn't mean to tease you…"

Two hours ticked over, and Shinji's phone alerted with a note on the Fourth Angel's awakening.

The purple-haired "girl" stirred in her sleep and yawned, opening her eyes slowly. She took note of her surroundings, and the three people standing over her.

"…Looks like you better fetch some water, Shinji." Sachiel noted, dryly. The boy nodded and did as he was asked, bringing a giant pitcher of water for the thirsty daughter of Adam.

She snatched the drink out of his hands and gulped like a nerd on prom night.

After finishing the pitcher, she sighed, and threw her head back on her soft pillows.

"Holy hell… Can… Can one of you tell me where I am right now?" She asked, softly. Ritsuko, being the only adult, took charge.

"You're in NERV headquarters. I'm not sure if you remember, but you tried to attack us."

"NERV… I do remember attacking something… I also remember… Sachiel!" Her eyes blinked, and she stared wearily around the room, instantly energising herself as she caught sight of her sister.

"Shamshel?"

"Sachiel! Why did… Agh… I remember some voice asking me to find something… Some… Person?"

"That was the Speaker of the Angels. It may have been Adam, your genetic predecessor." Ritsuko explained, having sorted through Shinji's previously filed reports on the matter. She noticed a clear change in the girl's actions then – as if neurons in her brain had reconnected in a giant, mental surge.

"Yes! Adam spoke to me and ordered me to seek out Lilith!" She explained, with a smile.

' _Interesting. It appears at the mention of her mother, she regained some memories…'_ The doctor thought analytically.

The name "Lilith" made Sachiel tilt her head in confusion.

"Who?"

"Lilith! I… Well, hell, I don't know who she is – but Adam told me to find her…"

"That's odd… I felt… Possessed to do that, before. But now… I don't feel the need to seek her out." Shamshel though aloud, scratching her chin. Shinji cleared his throat.

"Maybe when you exist as an Angel, Adam's call is stronger?" He theorised. When she caught his eyes in a gaze, Shamshel paused, and slowly reached a hand out to caress the boy's cheek. Shinji didn't bother to back up, and quivered as the hand ever-so-softly brushed against his skin.

"I have no ideeaaa…" She mumbled back, snapping out of her trance as Shinji finally backed up from the woman. Sachiel slapped her sister's hand away with an irate blush. The purple-haired Angel shook her head and puffed her chest.

"Whew, boy! Well… What are you guys up to? What's happening around here?" She inquired, giddily. The Angel was eager to get out of bed, and to get active, it seemed.

The three non-patients explained the situation with the war, and the fight against the Angels. Ritsuko announced some non-disclosed events that would be occurring, and eventually about Shamshel's employment within NERV.

"Huh… That settles it all, I guess. I assume I'll be bunking with these two?" She said, with a swift motion to the internally suffering Shinji, and Sachiel. Ritsuko smiled at the boy's misery and nodded.

"Of course. NERV will arrange some lodgings for you."

And so the rambunctious Angel was given leave from the medical quarters of NERV, and shown to her new, cramped home, by Shinji and Sachiel.

(…)

A few more weeks passed, and as with her sister, Shamshel was easily integrated into the pilot's "household". Misato had calmed down, after tearing some strips of Ritsuko, and her first charge had saved enough to finally purchase the apartment next to their original.

Some torn walls, and a few broken pipes later, two apartments were merged, and Shamshel had been offered her first choice. With their new extension, they could comfortably house a team of 8. Despite the new space, however, Rei adamantly refused to sleep away from Shinji.

After learning of their conditions, the apartment's rent was quickly supplemented by NERV HQ, and the Third Child couldn't help but crack a toothy grin at his father's "anonymous" grant.

All of this left Shinji with just two more minor goals to fill before the "end of the world":

Buying a car.

Sprucing up the new apartment.

All in all, both Angels had gotten accustom to "human" life rather quickly, and had alleviated most of the NERV staff's fears of intrusion, or sabotage. A wary few still remained, but were not unreasonable. Kozo had expressed his distrust openly with Gendo, and the Commander had taken the speech in with much consideration.

Even Gendo Ikari had to admit – even if the girls looked and acted human, they were still the blood and flesh of Adam, reborn. Their "human suits", as they were dubbed, couldn't hide their true nature.

Despite it all, it seemed peace could be achieved between the two races.

(…)

Rei and Shinji stood to attention, in their plugsuits. They were in a small, out-of-the-way gym, where they trained under the tutelage of Sachiel & Shamshel, and under the supervision of Ritsuko and Misato.

They were training in AT Field manipulation.

"The first step to such manipulation is to have great, balanced strength between the body and the mind. An intelligent mind can't maintain a strong AT Field, nor mould it to their will, if their strength is lacking." A small glance was darted to the thin Rei, who couldn't stop a small sneer from appearing.

"Similarly, a strong body that can't muster a firm will is nothing but a husk." It felt as if Sachiel could peer into Shinji's mind. He evened his breathing quickly and nodded.

"So, I will help Rei with strength training, and… General fitness." Shamshel declared to the ever-recording Ritsuko, and the ever-bored Misato.

"And I will aid Shinji in strengthening his will. Through fitness." Sachiel added.

"Wait, what?"

"Physical exercise is the most easily translatable and adaptable method of how I will teach you to mould your AT Field at your whim, Shinji." Explained the smiling Angel, who tilted her head and assumed her "fitness instructor" mode.

Hours and many more sessions followed these over the weeks, working the two pilots and even their "instructors" into overdrive.

During one of these sessions, a small thought came to Shinji's mind, disrupting his attempted levitation.

"Hey, Sachiel?" Shinji asked, despite the Angel's disappointed stare turned deep blush.

"Yes, Shinji?"

"Are you… Are you and Shamshel able to return to your previous forms? I've just been thinking that… We might need more firepower when the time comes, and I'd like to see if you two could join us out in the field." The boy reborn asked. The blonde teen stroked her chin as she went into deep thought.

"It's possible, although we'd need access to S2 organs to reform our bodies. And I suppose if Shamshel and I train enough with you and Rei, we could even maintain control, and depart from our bodies of our own will, like you, with your Evangelion." Answered the timid Angel. All they had were theories, however, and any live field tests with such claims had a small chance of success.

"We could try, and if it worked, we'd have a staggering advantage against…" His thoughts went to the Mass Production Evas, which had torn Asuka to shreds…

"My kind, Shinji?" Sachiel asked him, worriedly. The boy shook his head as he went back to his levitation practice.

"No, Sachiel… Abominations. To both our species." He _would_ tell them both, when the time came. Any possible leaks were dangers to his, and everyone else's safety. If whoever Gendo worked for found out, they'd capture him, and interrogate him until they had nothing left to learn about the future.

Then, being the shady, evil bastards they were, they'd kill him.

(…)

It was the day of the Jet Alone tests. As a precaution, Eva Units 00 and 01 were on standby, ready to launch at any moment.

Gendo has sent word to SEELE, a much more deviously worded plan than what Shinji had suggested to him, and any subterfuge attempts they had initiated were aborted.

All in all, the day went supremely well compared to Shinji's last time in the world. Jet Alone 1 had acted well, and manufacturer seemed to have not gotten word about the S2 organs that had been grown within Evangelion Unit 01.

If they had, they wouldn't have been selling the machine's operating time so much.

With Eva Unit's second spare organ successfully transferred onto the prototype model, things were looking good for Shinji's new timeline. It was the small changes that caught him off-guard, such as his genderbent friends, or the "human" Angels.

And another unknown variable had presented itself in the form of a new pilot.

Catching a video feed that was networked within NERV to the Jet Alone base, Shinji caught sight of the company's new "pilot", who was going to be used for later projects.

Minutes later, the base had made another announcement – that the Jet Alone project, and its parent company, would be merged with NERV, under some confusing new merger name.

' _Nice going, Commander.'_ Oh, don't forget – Shinji was still pissed at his father. Running off with another woman, just after your wife has her soul absorbed within a giant cyborg? Yeah, that was pretty low.

The burgeoning JA trainee's eyes lit up with glee as the announcement rang – she was _definitely_ going to be a pilot, now!

She had short, auburn hair, and appeared to be wearing a flowing, white sundress at the live tests. As the cameras panned over to her celebratory dance, a name and designation graphic appeared on Shinji's screen.

 **MANA KIRISHIMA – JET ALONE PILOT TRAINEE**

' _Another ally…'_ Shinji smiled warmly at the thought, and he and Rei were let go from their spontaneous, coincidentally timed "test".

(…)

It felt like an eternity, waiting for the next Angel to strike.

Yet despite this, during one of the hottest school days the small group had ever experienced, they had drowned their sorrows and worries within the school pool. Shinji and Sachiel frolicked expertly within the waters – the Angel absolutely loving the fact that she found out her namesake from her sister.

Sachiel was the Angel of Water, fittingly enough. Her original emergence from the sea proved this fact. She danced through the small pool like she belonged in it, and many stared on at her.

It was then the Third Child was set upon by his old friends. As he relaxed in a corner of the pool, Tojiko and Kensuki crawled up to his sides.

"What are you staring at, Ikari?" The jock enquired. Shinji then caught himself staring at… Everybody.

"The class… Why?"

"D'aw, we know who you're lookin' at! You've got 3 beauties that live in your apartment who're crazy about you, and you think you can fool us?" Shinji blushed at Kensuki's words and his heart fluttered at the notion.

"Fool you guys?"

"Yeah! We can tell you're staring at Sachiel's behind…" Tojiko teased.

"Rei's thighs…" At this, Shinji's eyes took notice of the three girls, and he had to immediately stifle an erection, lest be branded a pervert.

"And don't forget the new girl's fantastic tit-"

"I get it! You guys are pretty fucking creepy, you know that?" Shinji checked with the two. They just laughed him off, and they continued their swim.

"Don't forget that they've all been trying to get peeks at your abs!" The boy just shivered and ignored Tojiko's last remark.

He eventually swam on his back, and remained floating peacefully.

' _Shit… What if they do actually like me? …Man, I'll have to get more of Misato's help with this…'_ He grumbled to himself, though no without smiling up at the sky at the warmth of that thought.

"Shinji!" Shamshel called out to him. With grace, he lurched upwards and smiled at the girl.

"Yeah?"

"We've got a date tonight, alright?" It really didn't sound like a question at all – more as if as though the woman was being forward about her affections with the boy.

"Okay… Okay." He quickly thought about objecting real quick so he could think things over, but he didn't need to – not if what Misato said had any merit. The confirmation made the purple-haired Angel leap out the water, powered by an extremely potent AT Field.

"Ah, hell yeah! That was way easier than I thought!" The quick moment of levitation was noticed by the entire class, who just stared on the human-like Angel. A minute of silence passed, only to be interrupted by a short cough.

(…)

The day was over, and Shinji quickly welcomed the warmth of his bed, eager to sleep in until his date with Shamshel. As soon as he opened the door and collapsed on the pinnacle of human achievement, several more presences entered his room.

"Heeeeeeey." Shamshel greeted, lightly pecking the young teen on his cheek. Shinji blushed, but unfurled his covers and unfolded himself from his foetal position. The purple-haired "woman" slid to his right side, and his blush reddened.

Rei and Sachiel made themselves known. The blonde Angel slid to Shinji's uninhabited left side and began resting her head on his chest. Rei held back a small grunt, and instead straddled Shinji for a while.

The boy had to quickly drive his blood back north to avoid an awkward incident.

"So… What brings you guys 'round here?" Shinji asked, very, very shakily. He made sure his breaths weren't too noticeable… Or erratic.

"Looking for a place to nap, mainly. Also, these two wanted to ask you something." Shamshel answered, motioning to her sister and the Lilith clone. Rei and Sachiel blushed, and averted their gaze away from their makeshift pillow.

"You see…"

"Shinji, we would like to…"

Minutes of stammered sentences and blushing cheeks followed. The purple-haired Angel shook her head at her roommates.

"Wow, you two are really bad at this. No wonder he's been single since I've gotten here."

"Shut up, Shamshel! Ah, screw it – Shinji – can me and Rei tag along to your date?"

"She means to turn your single date into a triple." Rei explained, adjusting so that her leg sat softly against the boy's.

His cheeks flared with a mighty flush, and he thanked the Rei-Adam-Lilith being for sending him back.

For this was clearly the best timeline.

"The three of you…" He began, forcing the ridiculous smile off his face.

"That is correct." Sachiel reiterated.

"On a date."

"Yes."

"With me."

"Hell yeah!"

"That sounds fantastic. But I'm curious as to why?" He asked them all. The girls simultaneously shrugged and once more removed their gazes from him.

"You're very kind-hearted." The clone of Lilith said, tracing fingers around the boy's chest.

"You're very understanding." Dawdled the blonde Angel.

"And you've got nice abs, to boot." Shamshel finished for them, planting a small kiss on the boy's lips.

"Well, thanks for that – b-but I meant the three of you being so… Sharing, I guess?"

"Oh…"

"This was the best solution that fit the scenario. If one of us takes full control as your girlfriend, then the others would emotionally suffer for as long as we work and live together." Rei explained.

"This was the best solution." Shamshel repeated.

"That's… I'm grateful." He took a moment to think on the implications of this – was he just in a LCL induced dream about his entire life up to this point?

Did he care?

At the moment, not in the slightest.

"It's a triple-date, then. I'll make sure to look three times as good!" He teased, as dumbly as he could. The three women giggled, and snuggled themselves further into the body of the Third Child.

Their Operations Director would later come in to find the quartet napping peacefully.

(Some time later…)

He felt there was a reason their plans would fall through.

"Put the city on full alert and evac! It's an Angel, alright!" Misato ordered with a sharp yell.

Shinji cursed his luck and mobilised to attack the absolutely titanic floating octahedron. He slipped on his plugsuit, but was halted by his father.

"You changed your battle plan rather quickly. Are you sure you can handle this?" Gendo asked his son. Shinji still couldn't help the anger that rose to his face as he looked on at the Commander.

"Me and Rei are perfectly capable. I assume you and Misato commandeered the Positron Rifle?" Shinji asked.

"Of course, as per your guidance. With Evaneglion Unit 00's active S2 organ, Rei will have it powered in less than 2 hours." The Commander of NERV would have to inquire with his son at the newfound rage.

"I'm not worried about power. I'm worried about saving the core of the Angel. We destroy it, and we're killing someone."

"I realise." Gendo turned on his heel to leave, and before his son entered the cockpit of the Entry Plug, he stopped him once more.

"I forgot to mention – we've made you a present. Consider it a gift from the engineers and the JA crew…" He left Shinji to interpret that any way he wanted.

Shinji thanked the man curtly and submerged himself within the already-primed container of LCL. He let go of his mind, and synchronised with the glorious amalgamation of flesh and metal.

(Some minutes before…)

Rei still stared at her own "machine", still a little adamant on entering it. She bit her lip and squashed her fears.

She'd gotten used to the overbearing negativity that the beast exuded before, but now it was gone. Replaced with a powerful, positive void.

Several wires had connected it to the rifle that was primed on the surface of Tokyo-3, powering it alongside half the power of the megacity itself.

"Operation Yashima", as they dubbed it.

The girl climbed in to the "pit", and prepared for launch. The massive series of power cables that tethered the beast's core to the surface snapped off, and Rei sunk into the mind of Eva Unit 00.

(…)

"Eva launch!" Misato ordered, and so they were. Unit 01 was sent to personally combat the octahedral Angel and study it within combat, and Rei was sent to the city limits of Tokyo-3.

"Shinji… Steady at 120%, and Rei, steady at 80%..." Shigeru announced with no small sense of happiness. It seemed that the mood of the entire workplace had perked up, for no discernable reason worth noting.

"Good lord, Misato, what are you feeding these kids?" The guitar enthusiast remarked. Instead of a light scolding, he actually heard the Captain laugh a hearty chortle.

"More like what Shinji's been feeding us! The little bastards have been training non-stop!" She boasted, with no small amount of pride in her voice.

(…)

Shamshel and Sachiel sat awkwardly under the gaze of Ritsuko and Kozo.

"Hell… This is super boring." Shamshel commented, stretching her arms high above her head. Kozo's worry grew as they continued to move, and breath. He didn't forget the last incident, but he still wasn't completely okay with their presence in the base.

The two extra NERV guards with big, big guns were a good explanation of his current distrust.

"Like I said, this will only last until the end of the fight. We have to make sure this Angel doesn't try any telepathic contact of its own." Ritsuko explained to the two girls.

"We should be out, helping them." Sachiel mentioned quietly.

"And what would you fight with? We already know telepathic contact is too risky, and we have no suitable weaponry for you." Kozo reasoned with the angry girl, who sighed at his response.

"I understand, Sub-Commander. I still feel… Inert." Whined the blonde Angel.

"I know you do. That doesn't bring me any sort of joy, Sachiel." Fuyutsuki levelled the girl, with an unintentionally fathering tone.

(…)

"Target is focussing energy within a central torus reactor…"

"It's targeting Eva Unit 01!" Maya warned. Misato quickly relayed the notification to Shinji, who responded with a nod.

(…)

The boy reborn focussed every ounce of willpower he had, and melded with the Evangelion with near-perfection. In front of the Eva materialised an intensely powerful shimmering shield of light.

The lift clicked into place, and his cover was removed.

The 5th Angel fired its beam of brilliant energy, and went to burn. It needed to remove the obstacle in its way, and it needed to find… It.

Eva Unit 01 stood and absorbed the absolute force of the blast, not budging an inch. The shimmering yellow shield of light grew brighter and brighter, eventually gathering up into a massive ball, which spread itself around the titanic body in a dainty sheen.

The braces disengaged the Evangelion, and it launched with a speed that couldn't have been possible for a being its size. It slammed into the fleshy polyhedral Angel, and bared it's hands to dig into the flesh.

Ramiel, the Angel of Thunder. Shamshel and Sachiel gripped their heads as the name was announced, quickly alerting the Sub-Commander and the doctor.

The organic, floating puzzle piece lived up to its name, and released a subsonic, low-resonance AT Field blast, quickly knocking Eva Unit 01 on its rear, and into the line of one of the Angel's powered vertices.

"Shit!" Shinji yelled, not expecting the move. He rolled out of the way of the incoming blast, not mentally prepared to absorb a second shot.

"Keep its focus on you, Shinji. I will prime a shot just shy of its core."

"Affirmative, just make it quick, Rei!"

He continued his assault, and attempted to draw out his Progressive Knife. Instead… He got a surprise. He quickly read the title of the blade before him, and drew it out completely as Ramiel exploded another blast in an attempt to throw the Eva off its feet.

' _Magorox?'_

The blade unfurled and clicked and snapped into a giant, domineering length, humming with a formidable force. Shinji gripped the sword evenly and attempted a cut at one of the Angel's corners.

Eva Unit 01's new toy sliced off a corner of the Angel's form, eliciting a mighty roar, and a thunderous quake from the beast. Dark red blood stained the purple and green blade.

"Ready to fire, Shinji! I need you to tilt the Angel 15 degrees to the right!"

"Affirmative!"

Shinji stabbed at the floating base of the beast and modified his AT Field to absorb the shockwave of the many blasts it shot. His weapon remained steady, and with all of his strength, he willed the Evangelion to forcefully rotate Ramiel.

As he did, Rei brought up the newly developing schematics of the beast.

"Captain, please confirm the location of the shot." Rei asked, quietly. Misato double & triple checked with the technicians who guided the Evangelions.

"Confirmed, Rei. Firing this shot will allow Shinji complete access to the core for about 7 minutes, before it fully regenerates." The Operations Director said with a nod to the girl.

Ramiel couldn't fully resist the strength of the obstacle before it, so it decided to eliminate what it could. It used the advantage of the angling to fire at the nuisance in the distance, with the last of its might.

"REI! INCOMING ATTACK!" Shinji shouted through the communications, feeling the sweltering heat of the blast.

The First Child had already pulled the trigger as the blast fired from the Angel. She used her training expertise and hardened her AT Field as best she could. From her position, the shot was sure to hit, for the both of them, and she couldn't move quick enough to dodge it.

A blinding white light shone across the sky as the two beams of energy seamlessly passed each other.

Ramiel was disabled.

Evangelion Unit 00 held its ground. Rei's own glistening blue barrier held out against the strongest of the fifth Angel's barrages, and she and the Eva stood tall, as one.

The Third Child's heart rested easily at seeing the titan stand shakily.

"Shinji! You haven't got long before that body regenerates and adapts! Tear the core out now!"

The boy followed the orders of his Captain, and reached deep within the bloodied body of the Angel. It attempted to move, but Shinji withdrew his sword from the being's bottom point and stabbed it through to the paved streets of the city.

He moulded his AT Field around the Evangelion's fingers, to slice around the spherical edges of the core, and past the torus-shaped reactor in the centre of the octahedron.

The cyborg giant's hands then delicately passed the core out, past the massive hole that Rei had blown.

Shinji repeated what he did before, and pierced the bloody core to find the next Angel. She held a circular scar just below her right shoulder – which confirmed Sachiel's bit of info on their transformations.

This "girl" had long, long blue hair, and wore nothing but a small pendant, which held a jewel that was reminiscent of her Angel form.

Shinji looked on closer at the girl, and found that she was shaking… Shaking awake from her deep slumber. As he safely transported her to NERV HQ, the boy wondered if an Angel's strength translated to their needed sleep.

She finally came awake as the Third Child arrived at NERV.

She stared at the Angel's eyes, and through Shinji's video screen, peering into his very soul.

"You… You were the superior combatant…" She mumbled, looking downtrodden. Though she appeared around 17 years of age, the girl held the grace of a woman much older, and almost made it the entire way to her medical room, before she passed out.

(…)

Shinji stripped his plugsuit off as quickly as he could, and rushed to Rei's just-arriving scaffolding. Her Eva slid down into the restraints, looking much more peaceful than it'd been before.

He smiled as Rei stepped out of the Entry Plug with her own strength, and he rushed to hug the young woman so very tightly.

She could hear sniffling, and some small sobs. A large smile came to her face, and she wrapped her arms around him in kind, inhaling his scent deeply, past all the evolutionary blood they were both covered in.

"Don't cry, Shinji… I'm here." Truly, it felt so _damn good_ to be cared about, to feel wanted. It felt _so_ good to know that she'd be missed, and it felt even better that she didn't have to leave the mortal realm, completely crushing the fast, worried beat of her heart.

"I know… I'm crying because I'm happy, Rei." He pulled back his hug, and lightly kissed the girl on her lips, tasting her, beyond the evolutionary blood she'd had in her mouth and lungs. She parted their kiss early, and held one hand to the boy's face.

"I'm still looking forward to our date, Shinji." She teased him, with a genuinely happy, and a genuinely _loving_ smile.

Shinji smiled, and hugged the girl again, happy to have her with him in this lifetime.

(…)

Ramiel sat up on her hospital-like bed, and continued to sigh. She perked up when she got visitors after only a few minutes after her arrival. Shinji sat down on a chair at the end of the girl's bed, and sighed deeply.

"You smell disgusting." She greeted him.

Shinji Ikari just nodded to her and sighed again, sitting deeper in his chair.

"I know I do. I'm covered in the blood of Lilith. I assume Adam told you to find her, yes?" Ramiel appeared to be shocked by the two names, and nodded slowly to the boy in response.

"Yes… Yes she did."

"How are you feeling? Are you tired, shaky?" The boy checked. He was definitely no doctor, but Ritsuko would've liked to know, in any case.

"My pride is hurt. What is your name?"

"Shinji Ikari. Yours?"

"R… Ramiel, I think. You bested me in combat."

"Well, I had help."

"But it was you that fought me, edge to edge, in close quarters… Your companion was underhanded."

"I'm sorry we hurt you, but we're sure it's the only way to communicate with your kind."

"You speak as though you've done this before."

"We have…" As he said that, Sachiel and Shamshel arrived to greet their sister, whose eyes widened at the two.

A small greeting, and explanation of their situation followed, ending when Ritsuko entered the room and ordered the children to leave the room.

(…)

Two days passed, and Shinji was happily daydreaming as his stare ripped from a private chat he held with his roommates on their computers, to the outside world.

His date with the three girls had been postponed, as per Misato's orders on Ritsuko's suggestion. Rei and Shinji needed recuperation, and the two Angel girls had to have their brains examined for any traces of their mental contact with one another, and their new sister.

Despite their grumbles, the Third Child couldn't wipe the smile off his face. In the face of his personal pain, and the sufferings that many did not know about, he now had some people who cared for him.

Tojiko and Kensuki, despite his initial qualms with their appearances and… genders, Hikari, Sachiel, Shamshel, Rei, and even Misato…

His grin grew with a small blush to accompany it.

The smile was wiped off his face as he was presented with two new variables to consider in his plan of world-saving, however.

Plus the third he already knew about.

"Class, stand and bow! We have three new classmates joining us – please, girls, introduce yourselves!" Hikari Horaki ordered her fellow students.

Ramiel was the first, and cleared her throat. She appeared domineering, and had a face that held no mirth.

"My name is Ramiel. Good morning." And with that awkward introduction, she picked a seat behind her sisters.

"My name is Mayumi Yamagishi…" A shy teen with long black hair greeted, looking as meek as anyone could.

"And I'm Mari Makinami - Evangelion Pilot!" The girl next to her, effectively her exact opposite greeted the class, with a chest full of pride. She had her hair done up in two small, brown ponytails.

'… _What.'_ His brain effectively shut down at the two new transfer students. He _seriously_ had to have a "chat" with Gendo.

* * *

A/N: Please, ask away.

For those new to my stories – this is the tipping point where they go from "interesting" to "okay" to "shit."

Also, I'd appreciate if you checked out my music. I need to whore myself out as much as humanly possible without actually whoring myself out.


	4. The Roaring Beast

A/N: Sorry for the wait. I've gotten a job, and things haven't been pretty.

The story has become linear, but frequently jumps forwards in time by little bits.

* * *

"Oh, oh! Shinji!" Rei whined as she straddled the strapping lad, her heart filled with love, and her nethers filled with her boyfriend's member. The clone groaned at the foreign, yet immeasurably pleasurable intrusion, and at the ministrations of the Angel-turned-almost-human behind her.

The boy reborn's face was buried in Shamshel's twat, lapping and licking eagerly, probing her deepest depths with his amateurish tongue. The purple-haired Angel had leant forward, and had laid her hands upon the boy's firm, muscled chest as support.

Sachiel, eagerly waiting her turn, passed her time by massaging Rei's outer lips that were being parted by Shinji's cock. She used her other hand to cradle and squeeze the boy's balls softly, bringing him ever closer to an explosive orgasm.

The boy was lost in it all, his mind swimming with glee and many other things as Rei's walls clamped tight around him. His grunts and moans were all muffled by the lovely muff that was stuffed into his mouth.

Shamshel squealed at the pleasant vibrations Shinji's moans sent through her. As Rei lolled her tongue out of her mouth, the purple-haired Angel smashed their lips together.

The night went on.

And on.

And on.

Luckily, Misato and Ramiel never made an appearance, though the boy suspected they could hear the group **very** well.

Then again, with a mouthful of pussy and a writhing orgy occurring with him in the middle…

He couldn't give a shit if Tokyo-3 heard them.

Sachiel removed a quivering Rei from Shinji's cock as the cloned girl came, collapsing onto Shinji's side. Shamshel removed her sopping wet nether's from Shinji's lips, and moved to kiss the boy.

He stood them up, and bent Sachiel over, with the intent on taking her from behind. Easily, his length entered her tight walls, and the Angel gripped his hand firmly. Shinji sunk his maw into the girl's neck and nibbled on her collarbone.

Groans and whimpers filled the air, as did the stink of copulation. After a while of loving thrusts, swapping positions, and all that jazz & jizz, Shinji exploded for the last time that night, his seed thoroughly filling up Shamshel's prepared sex.

The four of them crumbled into an exhausted, boneless pile of limbs and love. Shamshel smacked her head down onto Shinji's chest, as Rei and Sachiel cuddled to his sides. Minutes passed like this, each catching their breaths from the activity.

Moonlight shone through the half open drapes of Shinji's room, and he smiled at the warm, warm presences using him as a pillow. The boy reborn looked down and for the first time in both his lives, he saw Rei smiling, with a heart full of love.

Her smile showed hope.

The quartet fell to sleep amidst kisses, resting easily in the wonderful moonlight.

They needed their rest for the upcoming battles and tests that would no doubt shape their later lives, and the lives of humanity.

(…)

Ramiel tried her best to sleep in the back of Shinji's new transport. After first getting the car, the authorities didn't really care if a child drove around Tokyo-3, if they had the knowledge.

Sure, he sometimes had to stop to show the license, but, he was able to drive around the city and travel at his own whim. He smiled at the sleepy Angel, who looked like she was internally battling some demons.

' _Oh for the love of Lilith, just stop the music. It's bad enough that my sisters openly fornicate with him, but interrupt_ _ **my**_ _sleep?'_ The Angelic woman thought, massaging her temples effectively. Luckily sitting in the front seat was Rei, and in the back sat her, her two human-looking sisters, and two of the three Stooges.

"For the last time, could we please turn down the music?" She asked, as politely as ever. Kensuki reached over the crowded back seat and ruffled the Angel's otherwise perfect, cobalt hair.

"D'aww, come on! I love track 26! Pump it up!"

"You kiddin' me? Track 26 is so pretentious! There isn't even any meat to the song – it's just tones and drones!" Tojiko whined.

"Hey! It's my car, and I pick the music! We're putting on slow jams! We could all use a chill pill here." Shinji notified, before swapping out the cassettes on the car's music player.

After that, and despite the haunting moans that still perverted the blue-haired Angel's thoughts, Ramiel was able to get a few more minutes of sleep.

The effect seemed to be contagious, as after a while, the entire back row of the car was snoozing, each leaning against each other as a form of pillow.

Shinji went silent and thoughtful as he learnt to drive his way to school. He'd been learning some basic German phrases such as "duck" and "left" and "right", all to help with his upcoming engagement with the sixth Angel.

God willing, and the timeline granting, he'd be slanted with Asuka in her Eva once more, and this time around, he'd be able to help her instead hinder her.

The phrases hadn't been hard to master whilst his teacher raved on about the Second Impact. Now he had moved on to more complex terms and greetings, just for the hell of it. Any extra edge he could use, beyond the impossibly positive boost of having experienced this all before, would be just the overkill he needed.

His heart leapt in his chest as his eyes darted back to his rear view mirror, and to the Angels and Stooges.

He wasn't looking forward to the regeneration tests, even after the extensive training he and the Angels had done to prepare for such events.

Rei and him could easily modify their Eva's AT Fields into simple tools for cutting or punching, but had begun work on attuning their finer, human forms of manipulation. It was proving to be an almost impossible task, though not without progress.

His mind then drifted to the introduction of three new women he'd never seen before – Mana Kirishima, Mayumi Yamagishi, and Mari Makinami.

They would be huge boons in their defence against the Angels, just short of the actual Angels themselves. He'd learnt that Mayumi and Mari were signed on by NERV as pilot trainees, and were no doubt receiving shortlisted training to integrate them within the Japanese branches' system.

It was fun integrating them within the group they'd formed at school, and they'd seemed to be nice people. Even if it was a little annoying to hear constantly about Mana's work at Jet Alone, endlessly and endlessly…

According to a message from Gendo, they'd soon be working and learning in live fire exercises with the actual "team".

Strangely, Shinji thought, as Gendo had tried to make himself as scarce as possible, being almost impossible to reach.

(…)

Tests regarding Angelic regeneration were going what many at NERV could consider "well".

Misato couldn't stop herself from chewing her fingernails. Knowing bits and pieces of her future made her so worrisome. The fact that they were testing something even Shinji couldn't have predicted made her worry even more.

Evangelion Unit 01 had been turned into a makeshift S2 organ factory. The crude pieces of flesh could be easily extracted in their infant forms, and grown within the organic material of other Evas. Gendo, under Shinji's warnings, had restricted their transplantation to the only operating Eva Unit on Japanese soil at that time – Eva Unit 00.

Now, however, Sachiel was the next candidate in line for an organ, to test if she could remould the mass and energy into her previous form.

As per Gendo, Kozo, and Ritsuko's guidance, an S2 organ was safely removed from Eva Unit 01's body, and was currently suspended amongst scaffolding for Sachiel's use. Shinji was stuck inside the currently inactive Entry Plug of Eva 01, ready to launch at any time, in case things went wrong.

Rei found herself in the same position, wearing a plain façade.

Having regained her strength, the Angelic human strode out towards the core and held a hand to it, instantly recognising the familiar, pulsing beat. Sachiel breathed uneasily, and fell into the core.

Her essence was absorbed, and the red core glowed luminously. The organ writhed and moulded new "flesh" and "blood" around itself, slowly, growing around the harnesses that held it in place.

2 hours in, Gendo cleared his throat.

"All non-essential personnel may go back to their original duties." And every single man or woman that exited the room was monitored closely, to detect any possible leaks to SEELE.

"Be on quick alert in case of failure." Kozo added. His eyes were firmly set on the organ, keen senses observing the quickening of the pulse rate, and the quivering of the organ's epidermal layer.

After about 4 hours, many sitting in shocked silence, Sachiel, in a much smaller form, looking like she did when she first attacked Tokyo-3, was reborn.

She blinked her eyes, and stared around the room she was suspended in.

"Sachiel?" She heard it. Didn't know who said it – she couldn't even determine a gender. She looked around, and blinked. She tried to nod, but couldn't muster anything beyond a twitch of her new neck muscles.

"Sachiel – if you can understand me, respond." Still didn't know who it was. She looked down, at what she could, and looked taken aback.

Something beneath her glowed, a radiant, alluring black light. She tilted her head, not by choice, and struggled in her metallic bindings to break free.

"Sachiel?" She ignored who said her name. She snapped a few restraints, and made her way downwards, pummelling at the concrete floor which separated her and her goal. Gendo's neutral expression turned bitter and unmoving.

It was her, but it wasn't _her_.

"She's going berserk!"

"AT Fields are becoming unstable… She's trying to drill beyond the GeoFront!"

Shinji's father gave him a stern look through the cameras implanted in the Entry Plug.

"Pilot Ikari, Pilot Ayanami, control Sachiel. If that fails, you have authorisation to terminate her." He relayed, coldly. The two Children nodded and sped off towards Sachiel.

The remaining staff quickly evacuated their areas, and an alarm went off through NERV headquarters. Shinji dove forward towards the slowly growing, titanic Angel, and slammed her against the thick, solid walls of the underground facility.

The angel looked into the Eva's eyes and blinked once more, before tearing a chunk out of the mechanic titan's arms.

Shinji roared in pain as he gripped his two regenerating appendages, and stepped back from Sachiel, who went back to smashing at the battered floor. Rei charged and tackled the beast to the ground.

"SACHIEL!" The clone screamed. The Angel's eyes flashed from their dead black to Sachiel's red, swiftly, before bringing its legs up to kick Rei off itself.

Shinji's arms were working again, so he kicked the recoiling Angel back down, and held her arms against the ground as best he could. He concentrated, closed his eyes, and moulded his AT Field as best he could, his mind and body perfectly in sync with the Eva's.

The resident spirits within Evangelion Unit 01 broke past any mental barriers the Angel had put up in her primal defence, and recreated the world to something tangible for both "pilots".

(…)

Sachiel was cornered, frightened and confused. Images from her "birth", and her arrival on Earth, her observations on the Lilin were all so horrifyingly clear in her time in the organ.

She shivered, and tried to wrap her head around the sensations. She let go of all control, and she screamed, screamed and screamed her lungs out.

After what seemed like days and days of endless, fluttering psychological torture, a blinding white flash came to her, and another presence appeared, yelling as he was slammed into the…

Ground? There was no ground before. Only a black void. Only a sister's presence. That was gone now, the reality here had been warped.

He grumbled and groaned as he stood up, and looked around.

"Sachiel!?" Yelled the boy reborn. She ran up to him and tackled him to the ground.

"Sachiel! Are you okay!?" He hugged her tightly, and a silent realisation hit the Angel. She shook her head and hugged him with all her might.

"What's wrong?"

"Too many sounds… Too many things to see, too many things to think! My head feels like it's going to i-implode!" Tears were fresh in her eyes, and he could clearly see she'd been debased and scarred by her time spent in her old body.

"C-could it be that your human mind can't handle your Angel body's thoughts? Maybe i-it just thinks differently to you, and that's why it's trying to find Lilith."

She nodded, slowly, and stood the boy up.

"…I-I think so. I have to find a way to interpret its signals and control it. Like how you do with your Plugs…" She thought, and thought, pacing backwards and forwards in the infinite white abyss.

"I think I've got it. I'll forcefully take control of the body's AT Field, and warp an entry point into it that links up to my human nervous system, but keeps me away from the core…" She said.

"How will you do that?" Shinji asked, timidly. Sachiel smiled, and held the boy close.

"By piggybacking off your mental signal and pulling my consciousness out of here…" At the end of her thought, a tug pulled Shinji back into reality. Eva Unit 01 lurched forward with the mental feedback, but regained its balance, and held the alien form of Sachiel in place.

It remained static, and Gendo looked back at his son through video communication.

"Pilot Ikari – is the Angel Sachiel neutralised?"

"Give me a moment, Commander." Shinji responded quickly.

"Pilot Ayanami, assess the situation, and report." Gendo ordered. The clone moved her titanic cyborg, and evaluated Sachiel's condition, worriedly.

"The Angel appears to be docile, Commander. It still has a pulse, but it's remaining perfectly still."

"I'll reiterate, Pilot Ayanami – is the Angel a threat?"

"…No, Commander." Kozo's brow furrowed at this, and he groaned.

The Angel twitched, and then had a spasm, violently shaking underneath the Evangelion's grip.

"Sachiel!" Shinji yelled to it. There was a clear, mental struggle going on between the primordial mind of the Angel Sachiel, and the more developed human mind of hers.

Eva Unit 00 stood over the pair, thinking as quickly as Rei's brain would allow.

"…Shinji – Sachiel's mind is in there, the Sachiel we know – yes?" She asked. The boy nodded, and his Eva did, too. The Angel's entire body began to writhe uncontrollably, and Shinji struggled to keep it pinned. He took on one arm as Eva Unit 00 took another, to keep both of their titanic weights upon the being.

After another hour, the body shifted, distorting into a completely new form. Shinji and Rei, as well as any recording equipment they had on them, witnessed Sachiel's human form rematerialize within the Angel's core/organ.

Nothing of the original form remained but the eyes. Those cute, blinking eyes.

"I have a theory." It… Sachiel spoke, through the moulded beast. The entire team at NERV was taken aback at the sudden comprehension of speech by the animalistic Angel.

Shinji and Rei slid off the titanic organic creation, and stood back. Sachiel comically brushed herself off, and tested the motor functions of the Angel, from within her "bubble".

"The closer I remain to my original form, the more control Adam's call has over me. If I can maintain a form of my own creation, then I can fight and keep my mental faculties in check." She debated externally, still coming down from her previous shock. Her findings were recorded, and Ritsuko made her own notes on the assessment.

Kozo nodded to Gendo, and the man cleared his throat once more.

"Then conclude the test. Welcome aboard, Angel Pilot Sachiel." He announced. Kozo's brow furrowed further, and he sighed.

The Commander's word was final, and they needed whatever resources they could get to fight against the Angels. The Sub-Commander disliked it, but he'd be the one keeping a critical eye on the foreign invaders.

Any reports sent to SEELE were modified, and any footage was doctored to erase the existence of any "human" Angels. For another week, their identities would be safe.

(…)

With an irritable farewell, as it was before, Shinji was sent off to the oceanic fleet which carried both Evangelion Unit 2, and its pilot, Asuka Langley Sohryu.

Over the Rainbow? Was that its name?

"Ohmygosh! That's the Pacific Fleet Carrier "Over the Rainbow"!" Kensuki gushed, holding her camera carefully out the open doors of the helicopter she, Tojiko, and Misato were in. Shinji smiled and put his head back softly, still a little tender from the wounds sustained in his fight with Ramiel.

Rei, Ramiel, Shamshel, and Sachiel were kept in Tokyo-3, testing and resting within NERV as much as they possibly could.

Rei and Sachiel were kept on standby in case of Angel attack, and Shamshel and Ramiel were volunteering their time for Angelic studies, happy to divulge information on their species and their links to Adam, if it helped promote peace between them and Lilin.

That was only shared to the highest ranking members of NERV, however. To the public who witnessed the fights the corporation had monetised, the human-Angels were made out to be captured human women who were used to fully harness an Angel's power.

Though it grated against Ramiel and Shamshel's nerves to be shown as victims, it was much more preferable than to be exposed for what they really were.

"Heh, I'm really glad I could bring you both along for a date with Shinji! He's been telling me about you guys for sooooo long!" Misato teased, eliciting a retch from the boy reborn.

"Lies! Those are lies – she's lying!" He scrambled for words, as his two classmates looked on at him with blushes.

"You perv!" Tojiko yelled, shoving him lightly, with a small grin. A few weeks ago, the thought of her being involved with the boy would've made her vomit.

But, a few weeks could've changed anybody.

"Y-yeah, you perv…" Kensuki added weakly, clearing her throat before going back to her camera.

Shinji sighed, and the helicopter finally landed. He slung his bag over his shoulder, which contained his Plugsuit and Neural Clips, needed for a smoother Sync Rate with Asuka.

He'd warned Misato that her ex would be there, and she had mentally prepared herself for such.

However, Shinji wasn't quite prepared.

"So, this is the Third Child?" Asuka asked, looking absolutely stunning, in her flapping yellow sundress. However, Shinji wasn't looking at her. He was looking at Asuka's caretaker.

Kaji.

Though, that probably wasn't her name in this timeline. Yes – he, the womanising, yet ever-loving ex-boyfriend of Misato's, was now a woman. Yes, that also probably meant that Misato was a lesbian.

Or was currently bisexual.

In any case, Shinji ran to the edge of the impossibly massive aircraft carrier and emptied the contents of stomach into the sea.

"Fuck… I don't know if I can handle this…" He mumbled, wiping the stray bile from his mouth lazily. He marched back towards the already pissed off looking Asuka, who was tapping her foot impatiently, as if waiting for Shinji to introduce himself.

He held a hand out, and she refused to shake it. The boy withdrew it and sneered at the German-Japanese girl.

"I'd say it's nice to meet you, Pilot Sohryu, but I'd be lying. Show me your Evangelion." Shinji put on a confronting façade, and Asuka smiled at him.

"Well, at least you're not fawning over my acceptance like some shy fanboy. Alright then, I'll show you why it's considered the first _actual_ Evangelion…" It almost sounded like a warning, but Shinji didn't take notice. Asuka's hair danced in the winds, and Tojiko struggled to catch her hat from falling off the sides of the aircraft carrier.

The boy bid a small farewell to the lecherous looking Kaji (or whatever her name was), Misato, Kensuki, and Tojiko, swearing that he'd be back soon enough.

Fear grew in Misato's heart after that, especially after remembering Shinji's warning about this day. The NERV Captain couldn't even muster a response to her old squeeze…

(…)

"It's impressive." Shinji remarked dryly, before moving behind a clandestine row of shipping boxes. Asuka gave him an odd look, before moving closer to him.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked him. Shinji stopped her before she could come any closer.

"I'm getting dressed into a Plugsuit. I suggest you should do the same." He looked over to the dormant Evangelion Unit 02, and saw that it was wearing different equipment than the last time he'd first seen it.

' _Thank you Gendo, you illusive bastard.'_ It was aquatic-type engagement gear outfitted specifically for Evangelion Unit 02.

"Why?"

"Because I checked with the Admiral, and he says his men have detected a huge biomass coming this way. Something giant, and reading at Code: Blue." Shinji bullshitted. Asuka didn't even bother to check how Shinji'd been able to contact the fleet commander, but she didn't want to know at that point.

This was a chance to show her skills off! Sure, the idiot would create noise within the Eva, but surely she'd be able to weave and work through it all.

To confirm her suspicions, however, the intercoms within the hangar bay of the carrier blared with a siren.

"Angel detected! Heading southwards towards fleet! Mobilise Evaneglion Unit 02, I repeat – Mobilise Eva 02!"

"Alright, hop in!" She commanded him, quickly stripping off and climbing into her Plugsuit.

(…)

Now, Misato was flush and sick with worry, as in actual NERV HQ, she'd have 50 or so screens showing her every angle of the battle in the highest quality possible in the event of an attack.

That was in Tokyo-3.

Out at sea, she had one crappy screen with an even crappier feed coming in from Eva 02's video camera, and when the organic/mechanical titan submerged itself, it became even worse!

Her ex's constant bickering behind her didn't help, nor did Tojiko's teasing of Kensuki.

"Would you three SHUT UP!?"

(…)

"Can you speak any German?" She asked, hoping like hell to not have to change her language designation for the Entry Plug. Like before, Eva Unit 02 was tethered to the mighty aircraft carriers above them, yet Asuka had refrained from demonstrating her little hopscotch routine on the ships.

"Ich weiß genug./I know enough." His pronunciation was a bit off, but Asuka smiled and gripped the controls of her Eva tightly.

"Wunderbar!" And with that, Eva Unit 02 was plopped into the sea, ready to take action against the fishy sixth Angel.

Shinji made sure to keep his thoughts simple, if he had any at all. If he saw anything, he'd think the direction first in German, and announce any direction to Asuka.

Gaghiel, the sixth Angel, detected the invading presence, and made it its target, just an obstacle standing between it and whatever it was it needed.

"Vorwärts, zwei Kilometer!/Forwards, two kilometres!" He yelled to her, upon gaining visuals on the creature. Its earthy colour made it hard to distinguish amidst the barren seabed and ruined pre-Second Impact era buildings, but his time spent training with Sachiel had prepared him for this moment.

"Ich habs!/Got it!" Asuka yelled back, grunting at the slower-than-usual response of her controls as she charged at Gaghiel. The creature reached subsonic speeds under the murky depths, and slid past the unit, slicing it's stomach with a sharp whip of its tail.

"Scheiße!" Asuka and Shinji yelled, clutching their stomachs. Shinji craned his head back and saw the beast coming back for another swipe. He shook his head, to clear any pain he might've felt, and shook Asuka.

"Drehen Sie sich um, linke Flanke!/Turn around, left flank!"

She bit her bottom lip and willed her Eva's control to life, withdrawing her Progressive Knife from its holster. The blade hummed and displaced the water around itself, humming dangerously.

"Misato, reel us in!" He was thinking quick on his feet, and had devised an odd plan. Before Asuka could open her mouth, he held a hand up and smiled at her.

"Bitte vertrauen Sie mir./Please trust me." He pleaded to the woman, who sighed and tightened her grip on her controls.

Gaghiel was reaching closer, and had opened its mouth, revealing a glowing red, burning core. As Asuka maintained a breakneck, streaming pace, thanks to her Eva's aquatic gear, she held her knife in a ready position.

"Schneiden, herausreißen Kern./Cut it, rip out core." He ordered the internally fuming woman. She gritted her teeth and readied herself for impact with the roaring, underwater leviathan.

Gaghiel sunk its many teeth into Eva Unit 02, tearing and ripping what it could, with which it could. Asuka and Shinji screamed, but they remained vigilant, each with the intent to _**fucking destroy**_ the Angel.

" **Reißen sie auseinander!"** They yelled together, stabbing at Gaghiel's eyes and mouth, the Angel screaming and roaring in protest.

Against the Admiral's orders, Misato reigned control of the ship's reel, and it was reaching the other, heavy end already.

"Too much weight! It's going to sink the ship!" The Admiral yelled. Seconds after he said so, Evangelion Unit 02 was shot into the sky, tearing off chunks and gunk of what remained of Gaghiel off itself.

Primal roars of both beings filled the air, and after two more swipes from Eva 02, the sixth Angel was no more – at least, not in its monstrous form. Moulding the massive AT Field of Unit 02, Shinji reduced the amount of weight and shock the aircraft carrier received from its abrupt landing.

In one hand, like a thief from ancient times, Eva Unit 02 held the core of Gaghiel like a prized ruby, and in the other, like an assassin of old, it held it's still humming Progressive Knife.

"Lass uns Essen…/Let's eat…" Shinji said, rage still burning in his eyes.

* * *

A/N: Love you all. Thanks for the continued support and interest.


	5. The Burning One

A/N: Fuck. That is all.

* * *

"Imbue." A voice called.

(…)

He sat, staring at the waters leading to his home. Tojiko and Kensuki were bickering with Asuka and Misato, but he was tuned out of their talking. The newest addition to their crew, Gaghiel, stared at the sea, forlornly.

Clothed in some spare army uniform, she shook tiredly and shivered in her seat.

Tears began to fill the boy's eyes as insurmountable reaches of blue clouded his vision.

His thoughts drifted, and he went idle, which could've only led to bad things. Misato saw the tell-tale look of utter defeat, sadness, whatever it was – in his eyes. She quickly swapped positions in the helicopter, mid-flight.

She hugged him, and he began to cry, softly.

"What's wrong?"

"I… I don't know…" Deep down, amidst his subconscious, he knew the real answer. He'd witnessed and committed the murder of his closest friends. The world had been torn apart. The sky was filled with the decaying corpses of every being on planet Earth. His mother and father had left him. He failed at saving the world.

But, it was fine now. Reality, as he knew it, had been torn apart by some intergalactic force and reformed within seconds.

He felt out of his depth.

He was the orchestrator for the events that had occurred. And yet, he'd never felt more powerless.

"You're not alone, Shinji. Your friends are here to help you." Misato hugged him tightly, and didn't let go of him until they'd landed back in Tokyo-3. He thanked her, curtly, and regained his bearings.

' _I mustn't run away.'_

' _I… I will not run away. I will not throw away my chance to save this world.'_ His friends, his true friends – the people he'd met in this lifetime… He'd fight for them. He'd help them.

A resolute smile came to his face, and a plan came to his mind.

(…)

"Eva Launch!"

It had been a hectic few days or so since the group had left to pick up Asuka from the carrier fleet.

For one thing, an Angel attacked.

Well, to call it one Angel would've been a misnomer.

Rei, Mari, and Mayumi were sortied against the simple, humanoid-looking beast.

Covering them from afar was Sachiel, in her, modified Angel form, armed with a Positron Rifle. Mana Kirishima, fully equipped with a Trident-Class JA, covered the group in case of a serious attack. Far less manoeuvrable than its Evangelion counterparts, the JA Mana piloted was built with AT Field-piercing missiles, and many other disruptive ordinance packs, alongside an electrified club used for melee sorties.

"Pilots Ayanami and Makinami, you are cleared to engage the Angel." And so the pair rushed off, Rei's sync ratio ever-so-slightly higher than Mari's. Their attacks were coordinated and organised.

The Angel went on the offensive, leaping over the two Evas that rushed at it, and attempted to spear them with its sharp-looking claws. The two Eva pilots drew their aggressor away from Tokyo-3 and engaged it closer to a national park, or what remained of one.

Mayumi was waiting for it in her own Unit, prepared with two Progressive Knives. She drove them into its skin, but couldn't pierce anything. Two nicks appeared on the Angel's skin, and in retaliation, it severed Mayumi's umbilical cord, before kicking her away from itself.

(…)

Gendo, from his observation point, looked back to the two Angelic humans sitting behind him.

"What is its name? And how did it know to cut off Pilot Yamagishi's cord?" Shamshel, nursing her head, cursed under her breath.

"Israfel. The Twin Angels of Poetry, Music and Dance. And my best guess is-" The brash Angel reported back to the Commander, who balked at her statement. His deadly look cut her off, and he sighed with an ancient weariness.

"Shamshel, I only see one Angel out there. Where is the other?"

(…)

Rei and Mari drove their Progressive Blades into Israfel's tough flesh. The clone of her genetic progenitor warped her AT Field around the blade brilliantly, and was able to pierce skin. She rent bone from bone, and tore into Israfel expertly.

Mari, on the other hand, failed, and her blade shimmied off the surface of the Angel's skin.

"Shit!" The highly-trained Eva Pilot was thrown back a fair distance, and she cursed as her Unit began to run low on power. Apparently during that little scrap, her own umbilical cord had been severed, and her power had been sapped.

"How haven't you burnt your machine out?" Mari yelled through her comms. Rei remained silent, observing her enemy from afar whilst simultaneously pulling Evas 07 & 08 out of a potentially explosive radius.

"It's all thanks to the Super Solenoid Engine, Pilot Makinami. Evangelion Unit 01 consumed the remains of Sachiel, and grew his own engine from the Angel's flesh. Unit 01 was able to cultivate more than one engine, and thus NERV transplanted the organ onto Eva Unit 00." The Yui clone sighed to herself after the explanation, and simply stood and stared at the Angel Israfel.

She picked up Mari's umbilical cord and attached it to herself. Moulding her AT Field, the flesh of her titanic cyborg automatically assimilated the mechanical length within itself, thus re-powering Eva Unit 08.

"Any unit carrying an S2 engine is godlike. In appreciation, I must use the capabilities of the engine to its fullest extent." Rei then turned to the highly interested pilot and smiled, her face visible through a video feed in Mari's Plug.

"And to do that, you'll need my help?" The brown-haired pilot asked with a sly smirk. Rei shook her head.

"No, but I'd like to have you along for the ride, Pilot Makinami." And thusly, she and Rei charged in near-perfect sync, the clone subtly influencing Mari's thoughts and movements due to their organic/mechanic tether.

Israfel had finished its minor regeneration, and charged back at the duo.

(…)

"Pilot Yamagishi – Can you move?" Mayumi's eyes were stuck open in shock as she fully recovered from the blast. Her lips quivered as adrenaline filled her body to counteract the massive blow from Israfel.

"I-I-I, y-y-y… No, D-doctor Ritsuko!" Ritsuko shook her head, and sighed, before calling out for a team to retrieve the young girl and her Eva.

(…)

The off-shore crew had arrived back at Tokyo-3, and Misato went to sniff Kaji (or whatever "her" name was) out, taking the helicopter to NERV immediately along with Gaghiel, so the "girl" could be examined and treated, if necessary.

And as she went out for blood, Shinji sighed, and located his car. Thankfully, Misato had the courtesy to drop the remainder of the group off to the helipad they left on. The spacious, Japanese-made vehicle was parked near the helipad. As Shinji approached it, he heard Asuka scoff.

"Pfft, just because you're an Eva pilot, doesn't mean you can steal cars, Shinji." She said his name with such contempt, but he knew she didn't mean most of it. Tojiko and Kensuki simply hopped in the boy's car without speaking, both tired from their rickety flight.

"Alright, whatever you say, Asuka!" He called to her as he entered his car. Laughing exaggeratedly, he drove off out of sight of the young woman.

"W… What the… Aw, wait up, asshole! I was only joking!" She yelled as she ran after him, and soon he backed his car up with a cheeky grin. Rolling down his windows, he smiled to her and invited her in.

"Why did the city allow you to drive a car?"

"Well, I put in a request with the local council." He explained simply. The German-Japanese girl looked around, to see if he was waiting for something before he continued to speak.

"…And?"

"Oh, I told them that I'm going to die prematurely, anyway. Driving a car is like giving the middle finger to Death at this point. They relented…" That brought a small laugh to the angry girl, and she sat back in her comfortable seat, pushing the snoozing Tojiko off herself during their ride.

Just as Shinji was about to open his mouth, he saw some Evangelions rise from the depths of the GeoFront. He craned his head and balked at the massive dual-Angel, which sauntered it's way towards the underground, black cavern.

"Shit!" Did they take too long at the carrier fleet? He certainly remembered Israfel attacking after he and Asuka had met up, but it wasn't this quickly!

Had the timeline begun to change in more ways than he expected?

"Fuck. Fuck!" He sped towards NERV headquarters easily, thanks to the cleared roads.

' _I hope these shockwaves don't ruin the car…'_ A small, annoying thought bit at the back of his mind.

(…)

"Pilot Makinami – when I say "shift", close your eyes and let the Eva take control!" Rei commanded, getting some disapproving shouts from her superiors. Mari's eyes widened, but she nodded.

She despised the feeling of going berserk – losing control the beast inside her machine, but, something about Rei assuaged her worries.

"O-Okay! Let's do this!" As the Eva duo neared the being, they appeared completely symmetrical, and charged thusly, reaching their identical Progressive Knives at Israfel's skin. A split-second before impact, the humanoid Angel shifted its stance, and Rei narrowed her eyes at the being – a primal hatred filling her core.

"Shift, Mari!" And so the newbie Eva pilot shut her eyes and lost control of the Eva. She kept herself from slipping in completely, and being reformed by the life-giving waters that surrounded her. Rei closed her eyes and worked with the trapped souls of her titan to fully align their bodies with Israfel's.

Shinji had confided in her with small details of his previous life. The major ones being that Israfel had to be killed by symmetric blows, lest it split and show its true colours. Their knives bounced off the Angel's flesh as Rei's AT Field generation failed to pierce the dual-tempered Angels'.

And thus, in a furious shockwave, the Angel repelled the two organic titans, and split its form into two.

(…)

They'd finally made it into the bowels of NERV, where chains churned and the cranks clanked around as Shinji's car was transported down. The tell-tale roar of the dual-Angel reverberated throughout the underground facility.

"DAMN IT!" Shinji cried out. Still with him, Kensuki put her hand on his shoulder in an effort to console the boy.

"What's wrong, don't you trust your teammates?" Asuka teased. Shinji sighed, and shook his head.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. I… Fuck!"

"Shinji, calm down! Tell us what's wrong." Tojiko used a commanding, soothing tone of voice to assuage the young boy's fears. He gritted his teeth, and sighed.

"I can't tell you… Not yet. I'm sorry." They rushed their way to the Command Bridge after parking the car, and found everyone working in a hurry. As Shinji began to sprint to his own Eva, Kozo caught the boy and made him observe the fight.

"They're doing better than you think, Pilot Ikari. Calm yourself." He could clearly see the boy was concerned with his friend's safety. Kozo had seen that look in many people before, and even in himself.

"Just-" Shinji tried to move, but despite his apparent age, Kozo held a firm grip on the boy.

"She knows what she's doing." The way he said those words made the boy reborn stop in his tracks. Kozo stared and nodded at the young man with a knowing look, before letting him go. Shinji stood in spot for a while, observing the fight's finish.

(…)

"Pilot Makinami…" Rei and Mari held their sides, each experiencing a synchronised, throbbing ache causing through their bodies. Mari focussed on trying to sap as much energy as possible from Eva 00's S2 engine as possible.

Her eyes snapped open as the infinite energy filled her Eva, regenerating any lost body mass.

"Yes, Rei?"

"When I say charge, we **destroy** this thing. We cut up or tear off anything except the core, and when we're done, we consume." A hesitant nod came from the Illustrious Mari Makinami, before she and Rei readied their Evas for another attack.

Mayumi was out for the count, and her Eva was being towed back to base, safely out of range of the two Angel's attacks. Sachiel remained with her Positron Rifle primed, and Mana still had her JA geared up, and ready to fire.

"Pilot Kirishima?" Sachiel called, before dismantling her weapon. Her titanic organic construct, outfitted with NERV-made gear, motioned and responded to its "Pilot's" movements quite accurately.

Mana brought Sachiel's image up on her screen and shivered when the ugly-looking, giant Angel appeared.

"Eueugh… What do you need, Sara?" In order to avoid any semblance of a security leak coming in regards to the Angels, they had to have cover-up names. "Sara" was the moniker for Sachiel, "Samantha", for Shamshel, and "Rachel" for Ramiel. It was by Gendo's command, after he had fully realised the implications of Shinji's rip in reality.

And as the next Angel was transported to NERV HQ, speedily, Misato came up with the clever name "Gabriella", for Gaghiel.

Sachiel went into deep thought.

"How many AT-Field disruption charges do you have left?" The projectiles Sachiel spoke of were small, guided "rockets" with a web-like structure packaged in the payload, which would spread out an envelope a small area of a target when fired and blown.

They were meant to quickly weaken an Angel's defence so that others could move in and strike at whatever area the charge disrupted. Mana looked oddly at the Angel.

"Uh… I haven't been involved in the sortie yet. I'm still at full capacity on my Anti AT Charges."

"Yes, but how many do you have?"

"8, total." Sachiel nodded, and made contact with Rei's machine.

"Pilot Ayanami, I suggest we make use of Mana's weaponry. Two identical shots could weaken the Angel's flesh for you to strike." A moment of silence was heard. Tension filled the afternoon air like a gaseous plague.

"That would be helpful. However, those charges have to fire with accuracy above 98 per cent." Rei noted dryly, surprising many with her prescient knowledge. Mana nodded and immediately tuned her JA. Priming her missiles, she huffed a scared breath.

"I can only reach 86 per cent, Pilot Ayanami!" The two Israfels began their charge towards Rei and Mari, having deliberated on their techniques long enough.

"Forget it!" Mari charged ahead, and Rei quickly fell in sync. As the two Evas appeared to be ready to completely annihilate the offending invaders, they performed a mighty leap, and instead, charged for Mana.

Balking at this new situation, Mana was calmed by Sachiel's ungodly titan blocking their path. The newly-converted Angel crouched and prepared two Progressive Blades, ready to strike if necessary.

"Pilot Kirishima, recalibrate missiles and get ready to fire! Pilots Ayanami and Makinami – strike the Angel's back! And Sa- Sara, I hope to God you're feeling even today!" Kozo ordered the Pilots. They did what they were told, and Mana readied her payload once more.

"It's… Only reaching 96 per cent!"

"FIRE!" Rei ordered, and so Mana did, just as the invading Angels reached within 100 metres of the defending group. Sachiel closed her eyes and centred herself within the body of her massive Angel, breathing evenly.

"CUT!" Rei shouted. Just as the disruption missiles landed on Israfel's bodies, Sachiel threw her blades up and sliced the bottom halves of the Angels to pieces, easily.

(…)

"Imbue…"

(…)

"LEAVE ONLY THE CORE BEHIND!" A primal fury surrounded the Lilith clone again as she and Mari obliterated the remainder of Israfel's bodies, leaving only the cores behind. Ignoring a sudden, massive headache, Rei continued annihilating the floating remnants of Israfel's battered flesh and bones.

And just as they finished, just as Mana let out a shaky breath she'd been holding, the cores fell in a pool of blood and viscera, alongside many blades. The two cores shook and slammed into one another oddly, reforming back into a single, blood red sphere.

It contained the body of another. Short and frizzy black and white hair topped the small woman's head.

(…)

Rei stepped out of the shower, expecting a warm meal, and some hugs and congratulatory kisses from Shinji. It seemed a little selfish, but she led the majority of the latest sortie by herself. And without the boy reborn, they'd been able to successfully repel and defeat an Angel, without much damage done to Tokyo-3.

It cemented Shinji's hopes, and made her look like more than a simple doll to many at NERV – even Ritsuko, and even the trapped soul within her Eva…

Unbeknownst to the clone of Lilith, Shinji, Misato, and the other Angels were out, back at base, no doubt conversing with their recently discovered sisters.

As the now gleaming clone stepped out of the hot bathroom, she witnessed Shinji and her belongings being tossed out of their room, carelessly. She bent over and picked up a picture frame Shinji had bought. It was a picture of her, Sachiel, Shamshel, and the lucky boy on their first date.

The glass had been shattered on its way out of the door.

Snarling at the defamation of such a memory, Rei gritted her teeth and strut into her room, like Death incarnate. She found the angry little redhead removing their items from the room.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"I'm picking out my room – what does it look like!?"

"I swear, if you don't put everything back in its place, I will end you, you…" Rei struggled to contain her emotions, and became stumped on a proper insult for the invasive German.

Asuka scoffed and went back to removing her new rival's items.

"Please! I'm the best Eva pilot 'round here – I should get the prime pick for rooms around this place!" Rei snarled and got a death grip on Asuka's arm.

This was _not_ part of her evening plans.

"Get the fuck out of here, you snobby redhead bitch! I swear to God above I will kick your ass so hard you'll be crying back to your fucking motherland!" Rei yelled, thoroughly shocking Asuka.

"Hey – I don't have to take that crap from a stupid, flat-chested doll like you!" Asuka remarked on Rei's stoic appearance.

(…)

Shinji sighed with relief as he carried legions of bags of groceries in with him to his humble abode, thoroughly awaiting a quick, tasty fast-food meal, then a nice, long snuggle. No doubt his girlfriends were, too.

The Angels were having tests run on them as a group under Misato's supervision, and wouldn't be back until _very_ late.

As he cranked his key and kicked the door into his apartment, he noticed the scared, shrinking penguin pet of his, and whistled low.

"Pen-Pen? What is-"

"OUT, NOW YOU LITTLE CUNT!" And thus, a dirty fight initiated between the two.

"Oh… REI! ASUKA!"

(Some days later…)

Shinji and Gendo finally stood at Yui's grave again. There was no longer an air of respect or care for the dead anymore, as Shinji's unbridled anger surged and waned within him.

"Why did you do it?" Gendo knew what his son was talking about. Shame and disgust filled the middle-age man, and he shook his head wearily.

"It's hard for me to explain, Shinji." His voice was soft, and shaky.

"I have time, Gendo. Tell me exactly why you slept with Naoko Akagi." Gendo also knew how Shinji found that little bit of info out, though he'd never tell the boy.

"It was the beginning days of the Eva project. We knew a threat was going to appear. Everyone at Gehirn could sense it." A small silence fell over the two.

"Go on."

"Some were working on it eagerly. Some treated the work as simply that – work. They wanted pay, and they didn't care for the safety or the future of mankind…"

"Go on."

"Naoko was like these people. She was a very self-centred woman who wanted everything from the world. She ate with a silver spoon for her entire life, and she still felt like she needed more and more."

"She sounded like a liability. Why did you even need her?"

"Because Naoko Akagi was a revolutionary genius in the field of computer science. She was the first person to map their genetic data to a machine – and that's what gave birth to our system at NERV this day." Storing that little bit of info in his mind for later, Shinji nodded to his father.

"Right. Go on."

"She demanded more than what she was paid. She… took an interest in me."

"And you fucked her." Shinji bit back at his father. He gave his son a piercing look and huffed an angered breath.

"Yes. I admit that much. Though I find that rich, coming from my son, the polygamist." Shinji's breath hitched as his father verbally fought back.

"How do you know about that?" He asked, quietly.

"You'll find that hardly any of your private life is private, Shinji. You're an Eva pilot. On top of being a celebrity, you're followed every step of the away in and out of your home by NERV staff." Gendo said neutrally, holding his hand up to his son.

"I don't know who might be a traitor or not. And I'm afraid we might not know until it's too late, Shinji."

"R-right. Besides, I love Sachiel, Shamshel and Rei. You didn't love Naoko, did you?"

"No. No I didn't."

"Then why?"

"Because she wouldn't cooperate. She refused to do her work until I…" He held back a surge of bile in his throat at the horrid memory. Gendo's face twisted into a tortured, disgusted mess. Tears pricked at his eyes, and he stared away from his son.

"I love your mother, and I always will. I said that I'd do anything to bring her back. Anything to make us a family again." Shinji could hear the mental torture Gendo had endured working for his entire life to make his hopes reality. The son looked away from his father and closed his eyes so very tightly shut.

"I lost myself along the way, and I gave into Naoko's demands. I'm sorry, to you, and so much more to your mother."

"Do you think she'd ever forgive you?" Shinji's tone wasn't accusatory. Gendo couldn't pick out the emotion in his son's words.

"Knowing her, yes. Do you think I've ever forgiven myself for what I've had to do, Shinji?"

"No, I suppose not." They got an airlift back to NERV HQ.

"Shinji, for what it's worth… I'm glad we were able to talk this out." Gendo said to him, with a genuinely thankful tone. Shinji smiled to him.

"So am I."

* * *

A/N: DUNK AFTER DUNK, JAM AFTER JAM


End file.
